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Posted September 14, 2007: Glancing down
at my jeans and dusty brown clogs, I suddenly felt self-conscious
among the finely attired people surrounding me.
“Are you sure this is the right venue for Carlo Petrini?”
I asked my friend, who was accompanying me to this much-anticipated
talk by the founder of the international Slow Food movement.
With a quizzical half-nod she pushed forward, waiting for
the doors to open.
After working on organic farms in Italy the past fall, I
had met several Italian farmers who vehemently supported Petrini’s
mission. I was naively expecting a similar “crowd”
in San Francisco, where Petrini spoke, but was surprised that
even with my keen people-watching skills I was unable to locate
a single farmer. Although I was happy that Petrini’s
talk sold out, I couldn’t help thinking that without
the farmers we would have no food—and the food, after
all, was what we were there to discuss.
The Slow Food movement was founded in 1986 by an enraged
Carlo Petrini after McDonalds attempted to open a franchise
in Rome. With more than 80,000 members in 50 countries, the
movement has secured a firm place in the world. Slow Food
helps redefine people as "co-producers" rather than
"consumers," showing how the choices about what
we eat give us a role in the food system and puts us side-by-side
with farmers in many ways.
Slow Food's international role has grown far beyond the pursuit
of great taste and into the realm of making ours a better
world, starting at home. Slow Food USA, founded in 2000, has
been both revered and attacked by farmers and the general
public. Consider this piece an invitation to join me as I
delve into various views regarding Slow Food USA’s effectiveness
in connecting to small-scale farmers and the various convivia
representing their local regions. As an American organic farmer
and Slow Food (SF) member, I represent both sides equally
with hopes of generating healthy discussion on the topic.
For a farmer’s perspective I spoke with Tim Stark,
a well-known heirloom tomato grower in Kutztown, Pennsylvania,
who works tirelessly from two plots of land a few miles apart
from each other. He believes that Slow Food USA has its heart
in the right place but worries that farmers aren’t being
heard enough.
We need a connection
“We still need a connection between the farmers up
to their knees in mud and the fine-dining customers at the
other end.” Stark said Slow Food chefs are key motivators,
since they can pay a premium price and advertise the farms
to a clientele that might otherwise be disconnected from where
their food is being grown. We pondered how Slow Food could
offer farm tours to family-run, traditional farms and glamorous
establishments—
such as Stone Barns in New York and Shelburne Farms in Vermont—during
the same day to encourage member discussions.
Stark added that while harvesting olives in Italy—New
York’s Greenmarket sent him there this past winter as
its representative at the International Slow Food conference
in Turin—he noted traditional knowledge disappearing
there, as well, with an increase in heated presses. It’s
important, he agreed, to consider that even Italy has its
imperfections, as farmers turn away from Slow Food motives
and practices.
Closer to home (mine, that is), I called Dave Trumble, an
organic vegetable farmer in Weare, New Hampshire, who employed
me years ago to squish potato beetles and collect garlic scapes.
Trumble actively supports the Slow Food convivium in the Monadnock,
New Hampshire, region and is pleased that people are simply
thinking about their food and where it is coming from. He
views Slow Food as an educational group that is just one more
means to connect people with farmers, but not necessarily
the only group that should be responsible for such a daunting
task. Trumble also noted that Slow Food is a young organization
that will probably evolve with time.
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Slow Food Seacoast co-leader Michelle Moon, in Kittery, Maine,
explained that the group began as a gourmets’ society
to encourage people to savor food and the craft that went
into it. Very quickly, she said, those food lovers realized
that good taste isn't something you can just go out and buy—it
has to be cultivated into food and guarded every step of the
way. Moon believes, “More than anything, it is the philosophy
of the farmer that determines the health, good taste and environmental
impact of our food.”
In their convivium, Moon explained, they see their role as
one of sharing information with the public about where to
find good, local food. The group is currently compiling a
Slow Food/Eat Local Resource Guide—a directory listing
regional farms and retail locations where you can buy milk,
produce, meats and baked goods directly from local producers.
Each month they set up a table at the farmers’ market
highlighting local produce and ways to prepare it. At Thanksgiving
they host a "100-Mile Thanksgiving" dinner, and
next year they will host a CSA open house.
Investing in local food
Moon’s optimism about Slow Food Seacoast was obvious
in her closing thoughts: “I think our events like the
farm picnic are a great model for bonding farmers and their
customers. By inviting people out to picnic on the farm, we
hope to connect them back to their land and their communities.
They'll have beautiful memories of picking raspberries, and
those warm memories will surface when it's time to make purchasing
choices or vote on legislation affecting land use. This cycle
of support brings together food, friendship, community, political
life, environmental activism, tradition and health in a way
that lifts everyone. When I buy local food, I don't feel like
I'm just buying—I feel like I'm investing in the future.
Growers and consumers should talk about that more!”
Ave Lambert, a CSA promoter for Capay Organics in San Francisco,
is applying for admission into Slow Food’s University
of Gastronomic Science in Piedmont, Italy. She is driven by
the possibility of forging farm-to-school connections and
personally educating communities. Lambert stands behind her
opinion that we need to “attack this issue politically
and culturally through education, since only well-educated
people with greater means can really afford to eat organically
[as opposed to] Italy, where the local food system has been
in place for centuries, making organic food more obtainable
to all.” Lambert is not alone in her struggle to comprehend
the “trendiness” and premium price of organics,
and what that means to farming communities around the world.
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"One
of the problems with food culture in the U.S.
. .is the focus on fancy food and food elitism.
Good food becomes an aspect of consumerism, rather
than about environmentalism, tradition or social
justice."
~David Szanto |
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As a recent American graduate of the University of Gastronomic
Science, foodie David Szanto brings an interesting view into
the discussion. “Given the contemporary reality of food
in our world, it's critical that food be thought about in
complex and interconnected ways, and that that way of thinking
be spread to a large audience,” he said. “The
forces of industrialization are too strong, and there need
to be equally organized counter-forces for anything to change.”
Szanto believes the major flaw of Slow Food is ironically
its great strength: its universally accessible brand with
access for producers, processors, consumers, community organizers
and activists, alike. Szanto views these many entry points
as necessary for Slow Food, which believes in using cross-disciplinary
action to bring about change; people want to be aware of food's
taste, history, environmental impact, anthropological significance,
production techniques, economics and nutritional benefits,
he said. “You would also want people in places with
wildly different food cultures to connect to a common cause
and direction, so it does have to have a pretty wide and loose
brand. That means at the local level, Slow Food looks different
from place to place as convivia approach food through taste
education, producer concerns or fancy food.”
Szanto emphasized that it would be wrong to take the Italian
Slow Food model and force-fit it onto the U.S. “One
of the problems with food culture in the U.S.—aside
from separate and simultaneous overemphasis on nutrition and
convenience—is the focus on fancy food and food elitism.
Good food becomes an aspect of consumerism, rather than about
environmentalism, tradition or social justice. We are, after
all, a highly consumerist society, and until that changes,
food will remain a subset of that culture.” There are
really two Slow Food movements operating in the U.S., Szanto
offered in wrapping up our conversation: the national leadership
with its overarching culture, and the collectivized organization
embodying a mosaic of cultures.
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"In
Italy, Slow Food has created an unbelievable awareness,
especially with children who aren’t taking
food for granted quite as much. People are also
seeing the economic impact more clearly."
~Boriana
DiMonte |
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It seemed wrong to discuss Slow Food without an Italian’s
voice so I sought out Boriana DiMonte, a vibrant Italian from
Montelpulciano, Tuscany, who grew up eating vegetables from
her grandmother’s garden and appreciating the earth’s
bounty. To support the small farmers near her home and preserve
their traditional knowledge, she opened a shop in Montelpulciano
selling their products, and recently a similar store in the
Ferry Building in San Francisco.
During my trip to the city to hear Carlo Petrini, I stopped
in to chat with her, particularly since she is a friend of
a Tuscan farmer whom I worked for when I was in Italy. DiMonte
is also a close friend of Carlo Petrini and was happy to share
her views about the movement. “In Italy, Slow Food has
created an unbelievable awareness, especially with children
who aren’t taking food for granted quite as much. People
are also seeing the economic impact more clearly.”
Commenting about people shopping in her store in San Francisco,
DiMonte expressed that most people don’t know about
Slow Food but at least are slowly learning similar values
by supporting small-scale farmers. She also related how in
Italy Slow Food is very reachable and not as “fancy”
as in the U.S. She expressed strong sentiment that teachers
and others with broad influence need to her about it to hear
about it in order for the concept to reach the general public.
Vilmo Barbi is one of the small farmers that Boriana supports
by selling his chickpeas, pasta and olive oil. I spent several
weeks working on his farm last fall and learned that he is
Slow Food Italia member. He relayed that in Italy, Slow Food
focuses on writing books and organizing meetings, fairs, markets
and dinners in order to connect producers to customers but
doesn’t ever directly help farmers. Barbi verified that
in every country Slow Food has a different agenda: for instance,
in Third World countries the priority necessarily shifts to
fighting hunger or alleviating bad political or social situations
so farmers can continue to produce their products. (Read more
in the New Farm article Harvesting
a sense of place from Italy's agriculture.)
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Following are some of the gastronomic insights Petrini, himself,
shared during the talk I attended. He began by offering a
“new kind of recipe,” emphasizing the need to
connect the “stupid, spoon-stirring recipe-givers”
we see on American television with ecologists. Petrini humorously
demonstrated with exuberant Italian gestures the ecologists
holding their shaking heads in a state of depression, with
the gastronomes happily stuffing their faces.
Petrini also expressed the need to create a new sense of
“ruralism” in order to attract young farmers from
the city and keep the youth in small towns. Italy is currently
working hard to revitalize many of its abandoned hillside
villages and bring some development, such as the Internet.
When questioned about “organics,” Petrini passionately
insisted that we first need to rebuild our local agricultural
economies before we worry about being certified organic. Adding
to this, he said, “…Organic is not organic after
traveling around the globe.” Petrini’s talk encompassed
many ideas conveyed in his new book, Slow Food Nation
(Rizzoli, Ex Libris, 2007), which further examines the
many roles of this complex organization and the ethics it
was founded upon.
Settling myself into the plush seat at the Fort Mason Auditorium,
I began reflecting on these issues while Petrini continued
to wildly gesticulate. Even though I wasn’t as sophisticated-looking
as the woman seated next to me, I fully enjoyed bonding with
her over the apartment she owns in Florence and the joys of
learning the Italian language. She was equally mesmerized
by my farming stories, cultivated in both Italy and America.
Perhaps the greatest strength of Slow Food USA will eventually
be its ability to unexpectedly link farmers and foodies. Although
this is not a goal explicitly written into their mission,
it could be a very powerful agent for change in this country.
Every place has a unique recipe for Slow Food success, leaving
the cookbook wide open for us to discover. 
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