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Slow FoodI mean that if we look at food, really look, our world can shift: We might not only grasp for the first time the biggest ideas limiting our lives, but also discover for the first time whole new ways of seeing the world that release us from our march toward planetary destruction. Francis Moore Lappe, Hope’s Edge
Eaters must understand that how we eat determines to a considerable extent how the world is used. Wendell Berry, “The Pleasures of Eating”
Food is the one central thing about human experience that can open up both our senses and our conscience to our place in the world. Alice Waters
The day is coming when a single carrot, freshly observed, will set off a revolution. Paul Cezanne
Slow food is the food our ancestors enjoyed: seasonal and local food, thoughtfully prepared to express local traditions and flavors, and leisurely enjoyed in the company of family and friends. Likewise it is eating as if your health and happiness depended on it, keeping the cost low and nutrition high by avoiding processed and “empty” food. Slow food tastes good, is free of toxic chemicals, and supports family farms. It connects us to the earth, our region and one another, rather than to a TV or a fast food joint. It is a simple pleasure, a celebration of life, a stress reliever, a mindful choice, a community ritual, an evocation of the past, a freedom we forget we have. We are what we eat and how we eat; that is why we eat. Charlie Headington
What could be better that to sit at a table with friends enjoying good food and wine? What if this happened everyday, available to everyone because farmers sold their fresh produce at local markets and each region had its own dairies, vineyards, egg and free-range poultry, pig and cattle farms? What if “fast food” meant a serving of home-made entrees and diverse side dishes and desserts at a delicatessen-like shop? And what if our neighbors grew some of their own food and preserved their family’s food traditions? And what if farmers received a fair wage for their efforts? If you resonate with these concerns, you are part of the movement to preserve and nurture “slow food.” It is officially a movement with over 100,000 members in over 50 countries. According to its website, it “focuses on conviviality, hospitality, taste education, biodiversity of the food supply and promotes food culture. Participants in the Slow Food Movement are food enthusiasts, lovers of traditional foodstuffs and those who want to find a viable alternative to the globalization of the world’s flavors.” The manifesto that launched the movement speaks to all of us who feel the stress and encroachment of Fast Life and Fast Food. Who would think that the sense of taste would begin a movement, much less a revolution? Yet taste does not stand alone. It is a culture that derives from a close association of soil and civilization, rural and urban, farmer and artisan, nature and art. It presents us with a choice; why not choose slowness over speed and quality over quantity? 
Slow Food is sponsoring innovative programs such as Slow Cities and Terra Madre. Slow Cities wants to identify and encourage cities that are making efforts to slow down and enrich urban life. “Towns and cities packed with squares, theatres, workshops, cafes, restaurants, places of worship, uncontaminated landscapes and fascinating crafts. Towns and cities in which people still recognize the slow, beneficial succession of the seasons, the wholesomeness of tasty healthy produce, the spontaneity of natural rites, the cult of living tradition and the joy of slow, quiet, reflective living.” Terra Madre celebrates the contributions of small producers all over the world. Yet these producers are endangered since they are up We need “virtuous globalization,” an international sustainable food system, composed of many, diverse regional members. Less powerful and less wealthy communities and nations need our support and advocacy. New research facilities, conferences, educational opportunities for young farmers, land conservancy for new farms, and innovative marketing strategies are necessary and that is what Terra Madre offers. 
What Can Happen in the Piedmont Triad?Several of us in the Piedmont Triad got together and formed a Slow Food Convivium. Our mission: To Celebrate and Support Our Local Food Community. It quickly grew to 80 members and a larger mailing list. One member, Laurie O’Neill, constructed a website. Steve Tate and myself published a Local Food Guide (now online in our website). Local restaurants sponsored tasting meals and farm tours began. Just recently we awarded the Slow Food Snail of Approval, our official symbol, to several local restaurants and farms. We have had films and discussion groups. New leaders have circulated through and new projects are proposed. Here are some of our other ideas. We have not realized them and we add to the list, but by perusing them you will get an idea of what we are about. Snail of Approval: Celebrate the restaurants, farmers and producers that strongly promote Slow Food values by assigning the symbolic logo, the Snail, to their name. Farm Days: Plan visits to farms to see where our food is grown and who grows it. Downtown at the Farm: Why not strengthen the rural-urban link with fabulous dinners prepared by our urban chefs and presented in artisan shops and art galleries on South Elm? Future Farmers Project: Make it possible for young people and families to acquire land and support for small farms in the Piedmont. Public School Gardens: We now have active food gardens at Peeler Elementary School and the Newcomer’s School. The Children’s Museum has begun an Edible Schoolyard. Let’s do more and get the school lunch program to include local food and day-to-day cooking. A mobile kitchen for sound nutrition: A traveling kitchen outfitted with basic equipment, hosted by a guest chef, that shows schools and classes what is in season and how to prepare it. A Small Farm on the UNCG campus: There are rumors that the Sustainability Committee at UNCG, Service Learning, and 10 departments will team up with the food service to provide an organic food alternative to students. Community Gardens: Many cities are turning empty lots into community gardens and so is Greensboro! We now have several dozen. Let’s keep up the good work. For more information:
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against the large, international purveyors of industrial agriculture, supermarket conglomerates, international organizations, chemical companies, and their own governments. To stand against them and offer their products to the world the small producers must stand together, form alliances with culinary, environmental, educational, and social change organizations, and be supported by an international coalition of consumers.