Fast food is characterized by two factors: cheap and tasty food. However, with the advance of the consumerist lifestyle, even cooking has lost specific attributes that guarantee a food experience. Considered an opposition to this mode of consumption, slow food emerges as a response to how people have their meals.
That’s because slow food focuses on food quality and sensory pleasure; that is, it’s how you relate to food beyond a meal to survive. This is one of the characteristics of this movement, which emerged in Italy in the 1980s as a response to the method of living, and you can read more about it below.
What Is Slow Food, And How Does It Work?
Slow food can be considered a response to what was happening in the world, which reverberates to this day: the way of life in consumer society. Excess is not only in purchasing products but in food and the processes that bring food to the table. Therefore, it is a movement that looks from food production to how you eat.
It is also a proposal that considers other factors beyond flavour and the final product, such as sensory pleasure, interpersonal relationships and food as a source of socialization. It is possible to see this lifestyle as opposed to fast food, as the goal is not to eat fast anyway.
Another characteristic is that slow food tries to rescue the traditional ways of consuming and relating to food. Thus, meals are made more consciously; that is, it is not eaten while walking or in front of the computer or television.
The food style also focuses on factors during the production chain process, so the basis is not just the final product but the relationship with the producer, the environment and the way food is eaten. This relationship is so intrinsic that three adjectives characterize the whole process. Are they:
Good Food
It is a good flavor and quality food; that is, it is a tasty, beautiful and, consequently, natural meal.
Clean Food
Clean food is not necessarily in the hygienic sense but in the ecological sense. It has non-polluting and non-aggressive production, which is why we talk about regional and healthy products for the planet, as it does not harm it.
Fair Food
Fair food is the one that is positive for the producer and the final consumer; that is, the price is highlighted. The producer receives fairly for the food produced, and the consumer pays according to the product.
The three concepts above are included in eco gastronomy. It looks at various aspects, namely: food production (friendly or not for the environment), the producer (receives a fair price for his product) and whether it is local or not (if imported, he travels many kilometers, has spent with fuel and emits pollutants).
What Are The Impacts And Benefits Of Slow Food?
When dealing with slow food, the focus is on raising awareness of the processes and changing one’s lifestyle; that is, it makes sense to think about the production chain and what are the impacts and benefits on everyone’s lives when adopting the habits of this movement. Are they:
Awareness
You don’t eat food, only. Slow food is concerned with the process that brings the meal to the table, so you also need to consider the paths that food takes to get to your table.
Is it from a local producer or the local culture? Is it environmentally-friendly? Here, it is not just the cost that matters, but whether the production process is healthy for the planet and for the people taking care of the process, it is also essential that a tasty and fair meal reaches everyone in the chain!
Change Of Habits
If you talk about the slow food movement, there is no way to escape changing habits, not least because this style is concerned with how it consumes and eats.
The routines of the modern world have excessively adapted to how people eat, so eating in the car, on the sofa, in the bedroom, in front of the television and even walking every day. Such habits distanced people from tradition, which would be eating together with people without distraction from technology.
Food can still be the center of a social action (eating around the table, for example). It can be the main link for moments of leisure and quality of life to exist, so you realize that meals go beyond survival.
Culture Development
Everything is culture, and being attentive in the production chain is a factor in developing these ties. Food is more than a prepared dish; it is the choice of ingredients combined with a preparation. This is even more potent when you combine local culture with local ingredients; in this way, it is possible to eat well and with typical meals where you live.
This impact is essential, as the movement focuses on regionality; it escapes a little from the global lifestyle disseminated in modern life. Thus, eating differently without spending a lot and still respecting the environment is possible!
Sustainable Production
It makes no sense to kill the planet to produce food. Pesticides, pollutants, and the devastation of biodiversity, this mass production model destroy the environment so that cheap meals are on your table.
In addition, the excessive use of preservatives needs to be reduced, even more so due to the excess of industrialized products, low nutritional content, and excess carbohydrates. In the end, these more affordable options cost the planet dearly!
Slow food is allied with agroecology, another movement that thinks about sustainable production and, according to demand, that is, the rhythm of nature is respected, and it is not necessary to put preservatives in food so that it lasts, nor flavorings to make it pleasant. It is a collective construction that respects local people and local cultures!
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