05/30/06 More about Slow Food

Getting involved with Slow Food. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. The Slow Food movement was originally founded in 1986 as a protest to fast food restaurants moving into Italy. Slow Food is dedicated to supporting and celebrating food traditions. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our taste buds as our guides, Slow Food U.S.A. believes that our food heritage can be saved. Bottom line is that we prepare food from scratch and enjoy the original tastes and pleasures of eating that food. Executive Director of Slow Food USA, Erika Lesser says that not only is Slow Food more pleasurable, it's better for you. LESSER: Well when food is made from scratch you're already at a huge advantage because you're not eating empty calories and you're not eating additives and you're not eating highly refined starches and fats which is so much what heavily processed, heavily industrialized food is built from. So already from that point when you are eating homemade food that's made from fresh ingredients and doesn't come from the freezer section of the market or one of the center aisles which is all packaged foods then you're already at an advantage in terms of health and nutrition. Slow Food is a non-profit educational organization with over 83,000 members worldwide and offices (in order of creation) in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, the USA, France, Japan, and Great Britain. Members belong to local chapters called convivium. LESSER: &coming from the Latin word for conviviality are people gathering together at the table. And our convivial organize events and activities on a local and regional level to educate members and connect with the public; do community building around these ideas. Anyone can get involved. It's very simple. We're a membership based organization and we welcome anyone to our ranks and in fact that's how we flourish is that we flourish by bringing together our members and volunteers on a community basis. In addition to individual memberships many restaurants and schools are now subscribing to the Slow Food movement. Foods served are healthier, more flavorful and prepared with the freshest local and organic ingredients. And even though it may take a bit longer to get your meal, the end result is well worth it. Lesser also pays tribute to the producers and farmers who supply the products. LESSER: They're such a small population now in the U.S. and they don't get the respect that they deserve, I mean they're the people who nourish us even though so many people have direct connection to farming anymore. They don't know any farmers, they've never met one before and what we're doing is trying to change that. To learn more about the Slow Food movement visit their website at slowfoodusa.org That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.