Slow Food

"Slow food" is more of a philosophy than a diet. The slow food movement promotes pleasure: the simple art of slowing down to enjoy food and the company you’re dining with. But the movement is also concerned with meals consisting of real food that is healthy for you, for the environment, and for the farmer who grew it.

The keys to following the philosophy are simple: buying food at nearby farmer's markets, eating local delicacies, eating only seasonal produce, and taking time to cook and eat fresh food. With this lifestyle, an individual's health is likely to improve, the community is supported, gastronomic traditions are preserved, and the environment is cared for.

Because they are so fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables often have a nutritional edge over produce raised on "factory" farms. The latter, which constitutes most of the produce grown in the United States, is picked about four to seven days before it arrives on supermarket shelves, and shipped for an average of 1,500 miles before it's sold, USDA researchers have found that if it's not handled properly, produce can lose up to half its nutrients in transit. Water-soluble nutrients such as vitamin C are particularly vulnerable. Because of its freshness, locally grown food tastes better than produce designed to be shipped.

Healthful whole foods are a great start, but slow food goes a step beyond good nutrition. Family togetherness is also an important aspect of the trend. "Slow food is all about cherishing the eating experience and getting back to what food used to be: a vehicle for drawing people together," according to Sara Firebaugh, assistant director of Slow Food USA.

Slow Food is not about haute cuisine, painstaking preparation, culinary elitism or ostentatious consumption. The opposite is true. It is about the celebration of simple meals and flavors from a time when such things mattered.

There is no code book to follow, no one leader or organization dictating what is slow, in the same way there is no single organization telling us what is green and environmental. But Slow Food websites, books and printed material translated into dozens of languages can give you and your community ideas on taking it slow.

For some, it may mean taking the time to enjoy eating with others. For others being slow might be supporting locally grown organic agriculture and cuisine and buying products indigenous to your country or region. On the other hand, going slow on the simplest level could be about the way you chew your food.

Here are just a few ideas on how eat Slow Food:

Choose local farmers’ markets. Slow food is about local, hand-made ingredients, traditional cooking methods and the producers and chefs who follow the creed. Fruits and vegetables are allowed to ripen on the vine before being harvested. Breads are made from scratch. Sea salt is raked by hand. It's safe to say that we all appreciate foods that are flavorful, fresh, and wholesome. And what would you rather eat – a tomato that was picked last week, shipped halfway around the world, and ripened in a cargo hold, or a tomato that was allowed to ripen on the vine and was picked that morning by a local farmer?

Eating a low-carbon diet that contains high amounts of fruits, vegetables, some fish, and low amounts of meats and dairy can help deter global warming while also following the recommended diet of many doctors and nutritionists for optimum heath. Our food system is responsible for over 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions, so a diet that minimizes these emissions is much more earth friendly.

With seafood, the connection between physical and planetary health goes a step further. Some of the most sustainable types of fish are small anchovies and sardines, which grow in large numbers and currently have extremely robust populations. They are also some of the healthiest fish to eat with their high omega-3 fatty acid content and very low levels of mercury and other accumulated toxins. Choosing these types of fish protects endangered species from overfishing and keeps heavy metal pollution out of our own bodies.

Gardening is also central to this issue. Studies have shown that people eat a more balanced diet and benefit from increased “secondary health benefits” from being around green plants. Urban food gardens, such as the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden in San Francisco, bring fresh vegetables directly to urban communities while serving as focal points for education. Urban gardens also help to recycle and purify the air, which is especially important in dense urban areas.

Slowing down can also be as simple as refusing to multitask while you eat. Put the Chinese takeout on a plate, use a cloth napkin, and sit at a table. Have a glass of wine if you like. Think about the way the food smells, the way it feels in your mouth. Observe your taste buds reacting to the flavor story that your mouthful tells as you bite, chew, swallow, rest. It allows you to take time out—several times a day—to live in the present, and enjoy something for the taste and the ritual.

This philosophy promotes a healthy diet, strong communities, and the preservation of biodiversity.