The Slow Food Movement

The Slow Food Movement is a movement that actually started in Italy. It was founded by Carlo Petrini, in 1986, and was originally an organization called Arcigola. It became the Slow Food Movement officially in 1989, with the signing of the founding Manifesto by delegates from 15 countries in Paris, France.

The organization exists to build awareness and help preserve the culture, local traditions, cooking methods, tastes and foods that tend to fade away with the introduction of multitudes of fast food restaurants. They also focus on how food choices, preparation and production might affect the environment. The organization will probably begin to gain greater publicity and recognition in the coming months and years with the world’s newfound focus on everything “green”. The Slow Food Movement claims that slow food is “good, clean, fair food,” that it tastes good, is produced in a way that doesn’t harm the environment or animal welfare, and that the people who produce the food are compensated fairly (probably in support of local farmers who work hard to produce local crops but are often the victim of unforeseen circumstances or economic conditions).



The organization attempts to promote and preserve local food products and traditions, and they go as far as to organize celebrations of local cuisine in different regions. They educate consumers about fast food and the consequences that may follow indulging in the modern “fast food” lifestyle. The Slow Food Movement boasts more than 80,000 members from around the world, currently.

It only makes sense that such a movement was founded in Italy. Italy takes great pride in their culinary traditions and the people have passed family recipes and cooking methods down through many generations. The Mediterranean diet, focusing on using the freshest ingredients available, which would more than likely be grown locally, and the Italian way of life, with rich regional specialty dishes that focus on the best crops grown in the region at different times of year, are the perfect poster children for the Slow Movement, and by following these simple practices, you can help combat the modern “fast food” way of life and help to protect our environment.

Pick up your copy of celebrity-chef Maria Liberati’s latest collection of mouth-watering traditional Italian recipes, head to your local market for some fresh ingredients, and be on your way to making some delicious “Slow Food”!