The Slow Food movement allows you to enjoy tasty, clean food with an eye to the environment. According to this ideology, what you eat should be good, produced in an ecological way, not harmful to nature, animal welfare and ours. Furthermore, food producers should receive a fair reward for their work.
The Slow Food movement was born as a response to the Fast Food lifestyle, prevalent in many modern cultures. By deciding to become part of it, you consciously choose to be a co-producer, not just a consumer. This theory supports an active, proactive and informed food chain that recognizes the links between what ends up on our tables and the entire planet. The following article illustrates several ways to get involved in the movement and become a Slow Foodie yourself.
Steps
Step 1. Try to understand what Slow Food means
This movement is not just about food. More than anything else, it is a lifestyle that combines human food consumption with wide-ranging issues, such as ethics, ideologies, politics, the environment and spirituality. In short, it connects us to our world. This theory encourages you to take your time to properly cook wholesome foods. It encourages you to recognize that fast food damages health, social fabric and traditional culinary traditions.
Step 2. Join a Slow Food group in your area
The movement currently involves over 80,000 people in more than 122 countries, so you can probably find at least one association in your region. A local group is called a conduct. You can find one by clicking here. Of course, you don't have to actively participate in an organization to belong to the Slow Food movement. It's just a chance to meet like-minded people, share ideas and attend events together. These are all benefits that could motivate you to continue on this path.
Step 3. Get to the stove
That's right. Stop buying precooked foods and start pulling out dusty cookbooks. In particular, dwell on those that have been passed down from generation to generation in your family. Many will make you rethink those delicious dishes prepared by a grandmother or aunt. Maybe, before anxiety and haste overwhelmed you, you yourself delighted with these creations. But be careful with the choices you make. The finest cookbooks may ask you for ingredients usually imported from countries thousands of miles away. Avoid them, and prefer recipes that feature foods grown in the area, including vegetables and fruit from your own garden.
Step 4. Go shopping in the area
This aspect is vital to becoming a Slow Foodie. Go around your town's agricultural markets or farms. Go to the greengrocer downstairs, the one who sells genuine fruit and vegetables. If you know neighbors or relatives who have a vegetable garden, please contact them. This is above all an ecological choice: from the environment, you will not expect all the waste of energy necessary for the transport of food, especially those produced far away. Secondly, you know where what you eat comes from, and that gives you some confidence. The biggest benefit of shopping in the area? The products are very fresh and the flavor is much superior.
Step 5. Avoid genetically modified foods
Some companies insist and argue that genetically modified products are the future of food. However, many doubts remain in this regard: the changes implemented are too fast, and the means used to obtain them raise many questions. Of course, we have been altering what we bring to the table for centuries, but the key word of this phrase is “centuries”, we are not talking about a few years. The Slow Food movement is firmly opposed to the use of GMOs. In fact, when we intervene in such a radical way on classic food sources, we risk losing very important factors, such as the diversity and quality of foods available globally. We replace them with monocultures, and the plants are at greater risk of suffering intrinsic damage. As a result, the assortment that is offered is less healthy. Since the types of foods available are reduced, it is also possible that the probabilities of diseases caused by human actions and the lack of variety increase.
Step 6. Buy organic products
If possible, prefer organically grown foods to those that are grown in a classic way. This way, you reduce your exposure to pesticides, fungicides, and chemical fertilizers. Plus, as many studies have suggested, you get richer foods from a nutritional point of view. They will boost the immune system because, presumably, plants that aren't treated with pesticides need to generate more antioxidants to protect themselves. Organic products are important for the Slow Food movement because they have a low ecological impact and are less harmful, especially when they are not industrially produced.
Step 7. Grow your own food
Whether you only have space for a pot of aromatic herbs or a real vegetable garden to grow vegetables, you can become the direct source of what you bring to the table. If you live in a small apartment, use window sills and balconies to grow herbs and fruit trees in pots. If you have a larger garden, plant vegetables according to seasonal rotation and you will always enjoy fresh produce. It is quite helpful to involve children in the garden to encourage them to understand the connection between soil, food and personal health. Get them started with easy-to-grow plants such as radishes, herbs and legumes. Encourage them to eat the fruit of their own labor after picking it from the garden. They can enjoy a delicious fresh pea soup or corn on the cob from their own garden.
Step 8. Share the dishes you prepare at home
Not everyone can cook. Disabled, disabled or simply too busy to consider the value of Slow Food are just a few examples of individuals who are not in a position to be in the kitchen. Share your culinary talents to help the less fortunate. If you are trying to convince others that Slow Food is valid, there is no better way than to invite them to taste mouth-watering dishes. Try them!
Step 9. Cook with your children
The sooner the children get involved in the stove, the better. Children who know how to cook when they grow up don't fall prey to the fast food industry, and they automatically learn that it's easy to get to work preparing fresh dishes at home. As if that weren't enough, such teaching allows you to share traditional and familiar knowledge with them. Encourage them to enjoy cooking and let their imaginations play a key role in the process. Creating themed shapes and meals is the fun part before setting the table. For inspiration, take a look at this image.
Step 10. Prepare healthy packed lunches
To go to school, work, have a picnic or travel, bring a genuine lunch with you. The soup can be kept warm in a thermos. If you plan on eating a sandwich, prepare the meats before you leave the house, but fill the bread at lunchtime to keep it fresh. Homemade baked goods, fruits, vegetables, salads and leftovers can be used for a complete and tasty meal. You will have time to savor it, without rushing to buy something at the bar. And you can also save. Save this money to indulge in a delicious dinner once a month in an inn that follows the principles of Slow Food.
Advice
- If safe, drink tap water. The bottled one requires a large energy consumption to be produced and distributed in stores. In addition, there are concerns about the dispersion of chemicals from plastic bottles. It is better to buy a domestic water filter than to pay for the packages that are transported and sold in the supermarket. Among other things, tap water is often already filtered by itself, so it is drinkable. For even more peace of mind, get a purifier. Remember that you are already paying for water in the house.
- Many traditional cooking methods have fallen into disuse due to preparation times. Many have solved this problem by preparing large quantities of traditional food in the space of a day (imagine that you will have many guests). Later, they keep it in the freezer in single-portion containers to thaw it and consume it easily. Refrigerators are very useful tools for the modern kitchen.
- The Slow Food movement began in Italy in 1989. Carlo Petrini, founder of the initiative, did so to take a stand against Fast Food.
- The slow cooker can be prepared in advance and left on for as long as necessary without having to check it. When you're in a hurry, a pressure cooker can greatly reduce the preparation time for cooking full meals or meals. Pressure cooking fresh green beans in about 2 liters of water takes less than 10 minutes. A whole roast beef takes only 15 minutes for about 500g of meat. Plus, you can defrost fresh spinach in the microwave in minutes. Slow cooking doesn't have to cause inconvenience or take a lot of time. The word slow, "slow", is actually used provocatively in opposition to the adjective fast, "fast", of the expression fast food.
Warnings
- Test the soil for toxins. If you live in an urban area, or anywhere else that may have been industrialized in the past, it is definitely best to examine the soil before growing fruit and vegetables. Even apparently healthy ones may have been contaminated with lead, mercury, zinc, cadmium, or PCBs. Check with your city hall to find out if they offer this service to residents. Also, ask for helpful advice regarding the conditions in your area so you know if you should try your hand at farming.
- Many believe that organic farming and fair trade products are safer and better for the whole world. However, many experts disagree with this promotion. Remember that these are still business models like any other, and they present problems and challenges.
