SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT
With the developing of
technology to save time, we have always wanted to reduce the time which we
spend on eating, so we met the fast-food sector. Yes, we gained speed, but the
process of forgetting our food culture and the main purpose of our diet has
also started to accelerate. Then, we started to think about the negative
effects of fast life as the diseases caused by nutritional irregularities, and
some psychological disorders emerged with the acceleration of life. These
negative effects attracted the attention of conscious consumers in society and
paved the way for the rising of the Slow Food Movement. For this reason, Slow
Food was founded to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions,
to resist the rise of fast life, to compete with people's decreasing interest
in foods that they eat and how their food choices affect the world[1].
Italian gourmet Carlo
Petrini started the "Slow Food Movement" in Italy in 1986 as a
reaction to the opening of McDonald's restaurant in Piazza di Spagna in Rome.
However, his aim is not only reacting for the opening of McDonald's but also to
offer an alternative way to mass-produced globalized foods and to
standardization which comes with acceleration. This movement: adopts that
fresh, local and seasonal foods; advocates protecting the recipes that make up
the food culture and cooking techniques; includes the interactions of food
producers and consumers; also includes the interactions between the food itself
and the people[2]. The most important thing is to protect this
cultural identity and be able to relive many traditional phenomena that fast
life has taken. Petrini said that "My friends and I started the Slow Food
movement because we believed that we were on the verge of losing something that
necessary, clean and good for life, the variety of food, the richness of our
traditions and the losing of connection between what we eat and how it is
produced. Since then, Slow Food has been the only movement that connects food
pleasure with social responsibility, and it was the only movement that
struggled for reaching food that good, clean and fair for all."[3].
Nowadays, Slow Food is
transforming into a global movement with millions of people in more than 160
countries and working for that everyone can access to good, clean and fair
food. This community has three basic principles; good, clean and fair[1].
Good: Quality, tasty and
healthy food
Clean:
Environment-friendly production
Fair: Affordable prices
and fair conditions for consumers and producers
In fact, the conditions
that should be in food production and consumption are basically formed of these
three principles. The naturalness and health of the food that we eat is
necessary for us, the state of the food after consumption is necessary for
nature and ecosystem, and the satisfaction of the producers is necessary for
the continuity of production.
Besides, Petrini
established the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Italy in 2004[4]. The aim of this university
is to create an international research and education center for those working
to innovate farming methods, preserve biodiversity, and establish an organic
relationship between gastronomy and agronomy[5].The establishment of a
university that aiming of such valuable goals, allows faster developments for
food & agriculture, also makes Slow Food even more recognizable.
At the same time, Slow Food members around the world apply the basic principles that they have targeted with the events and activities which they organize in their own countries. There are 24 groups in Turkey that promote the "Slow Food" philosophy. Germiyan village in Çeşme, chosen as Turkey's first "Slow Food" village by highlighting small producers and natural foods against industrial production[6]. By getting to recognize this movement more closely; we hope that better, fairer and cleaner food with the awareness of the protection of our food & food culture, traditions and lifestyle.
.
CONTENT: Betül YALMAN