The Challenges of Eating 'Slow'

By BOBBY WHITE

A good way to highlight the challenges faced by Slow Food would be to start at the end, at the last panel discussion held at the Slow Food festival in San Francisco this weekend. The Slow Food movement's key advocates, chef Alice Waters, founder Carlo Petrini and eco-activist Vandana Shiva, among a few others, discussed the local, national and global impact of Slow Food's philosophy and practice.

To begin the conversation, Wendell Berry, acclaimed essayist and farmer, read a paragraph from a San Francisco Chronicle article about the festival:

"Slow Food's strongest advertisement for itself may always be pleasure -- the neighborly connections of shopping for fresh local products, the gratification of preparing food from scratch and the communal satisfaction of lingering over a meal with family and friends."

While he commended the writer for attempting to capture the mood and direction of the movement, he also criticized the article. He said the reporter described pleasure, as it relates to the Slow Food movement, in a limited view -- that the description treated pleasure as a specialty, "a form of idleness," which leaves out the possibility that good work could also be pleasurable. The good work Mr. Berry referred to is executed by farmers and workers who bring the sources of pleasure -- quality food -- to the table. By limiting the ideas behind Slow Food to just "tasteful consumption," Mr. Berry argued, the movement is limited in its growth.

It's one of the chief criticisms of Slow Food that arose this weekend, occurring in numerous panel discussions and general talks about the movement. Often regarded as an elitist indulgence, Slow Food has yet to reconcile just how millions of Americans will adhere to the organization's key tenants of consuming local, sustainable food -- which often comes at a high price -- and shift from a reliance on an industrial, mass-market food system to a more sustainable and ecological one.

More Slow Food Stories

The $20 Dinner Challenge: Eating eco-friendly food can be pricey. Is it doable on a budget? Reporter Melanie Grayce West goes to the Slow Food festival's farmers market to find out.

Inside the Slow Food Festival Tasting Pavilion: From beer to ice cream, over 100 artisanal offerings from across the country are highlighted at the festival. Here's a sampling.

Eating High on the Hog: As charcuterie -- the craft of salting, smoking and curing meat -- goes mainstream, some producers embrace it as a "slow food." Reporter's Notebook

A Garden Grows in Oakland: West Oakland, a historically industrial and impoverished neighborhood, has become an unlikely host to the eco-foods movement

Local Produce in the Lunchroom: School districts across the country are signing on to the burgeoning "farm-to-school" movement.

With panel discussions entitled Climate Change and Food, The World Food Crisis and A New Fair Food System, event organizers laid out ample evidence for the necessity of change. Speakers noted the adverse impact rising energy costs are having on third-world countries and food supply. They pointed out how most of the world's current food systems rely on trucks, trains and planes, and how those modes of transportation are contributing to global warming. Slow Food members know the issues and understand the urgency. But it's the remedies that seem to be lacking, said some of the speakers.

"We have to integrate our ideas," said Ms. Shiva, a physicist, author and Slow Food activist, during the Slow Food Nation discussion.

Ms. Shiva said the next step in the development of the movement is to combine policy and cultural ideals and make it more palatable for people. By harboring on the pleasure derived from good tastes, Ms. Shiva worried the movement will not grow to its full potential. She hopes to push a much more global outlook and veer further into advocacy. Rural farmers in regions in India and Sub-Sahara Africa, as well as migrant Mexican workers in Florida and Washington, are being exploited by multi-national corporations, she said, and confronting those causes need to be next on the agenda. Despite some of the advances in the west, said Ms. Shiva, "most of the world is still farming."

"This is not just about wine and cheese," said Anya Fernald, executive director of Slow Food Nation, a San Francisco based subsidiary of Slow Food USA, at a press briefing. "It's about the world's agricultural system and how it's breaking down."

As lofty as their goals may be, Slow Food members seem to recognize their shortcomings. Michael Pollan, author of Omnivore's Dilemma, said the movement has grown in size, creating different factions, but it has yet to coalesce. It's the lack of cohesion that pulls away from its strength, he said.

Associated Press

A sign at the Slow Food Nation festival in San Francisco Aug. 29 – Sept. 1

"Without organizing into a stronger unit, politicians and governments will not recognize the ideas coming out of here," said Mr. Pollan.

But advocates also point out their progress. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, said for a very long time the term "organic" was the province of chefs, restaurant clinics and health enthusiasts. "Now organic produce is sold in Wal-Mart," said Mr. Schlosser, noting that it has also manifested in Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc, an eatery with 730 restaurants across the U.S. Chipotle requires its outlets to buy 25% of at least one produce item from local farmers.

"Events like this were unheard of just four or five years ago," said Alice Waters, chef and founder of Slow Food Nation, during the final panel discussion.

Mr. Petrini, the founder of the worldwide Slow Food movement, said in the early 1990s, when he first visited the nation that created fast food and supermarkets, he was told there was no way his theories and beliefs would take hold here. Now there are micro breweries, farmers markets and urban farms, he said.

"There has been a lot of progress over the last 20 years and much of that has come from the United States' lead," said Mr. Petrini through an interpreter. "How can I not expect much more? The movement is just entering its maturity."

Write to Bobby White at bobby.white@wsj.com