| Feature
Slow
Food movement comes to Marquette
by Larry Alexander
It’s an idea that continues to gain traction throughout the
world, and now a resident and food producer is taking the initiative
to bring Slow Food to Marquette.
Joe Sabol is owner and operator of Sabol Family Farm in Racine
County (Wisconsin), where he grows heirloom pumpkins. Heirloom
and heritage foods have not been genetically altered to accommodate
today’s mass production and shipping needs. He divides his
time between his Wisconsin farm and his home in Marquette.
Sabol, who sells his pumpkins to local outlets like Babycakes
and Sweet Water Cafe, is beginning to organize a Slow Food chapter
in Marquette, and will lead an organizational meeting at 2:00
p.m. on March 8 in the Community Room at Peter White Public Library.
He also will present the idea to the Marquette Beautification
and Restoration Committee at noon at their February 16 meeting
in the Landmark Inn.
The meetings are open to anyone interested in the Slow Food movement.
Slow Food is an international movement dedicated to good, clean
and fair food. It was founded in 1989 when delegates from fifteen
countries signed the founding manifesto in Paris. The movement,
which was conceived by Carlo Petrini in the Bra Commune south
of Turin (Italy) is described as “a nonprofit, ecogastronomic
member-supported organization.”
Slow Food was created to counter the fast-food culture, preserve
local food traditions and help restore flagging interest in the
food we eat—how it tastes, where it’s from, how it’s
produced and how it affects the planet.
“Your body comes from the food you eat, the air you breath
and the liquid you drink,” Sabol said. “Food being the
largest component. So, really, you are what you eat. We should
savor that more.”
According to the Slow Food International Web site, there are more
than 85,000 Slow Food members in 132 countries.
The Slow Food International philosophy is, “We believe that
everyone has a fundamental right to pleasure, and consequently
the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition
and culture that make this pleasure possible. Our movement is
founded upon this concept of ecogastronomy—a recognition
of the strong connections between plate and planet.”
The belief is food should taste good, be produced without harming
the environment and those who do the work should receive just
compensation. It’s all about optimization, according to Sabol.
“Alice Waters, who created the Edible Schoolyard (located
at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, California)
said, ‘vegetables get jet lag, too,’” Sabol said.
“What she was getting at is the idea of cooking based on
what’s available and in season in your area.”
He said it’s better to go to the market and see what’s
good than to set your menu and then try to find what you need.
This way, you’re not tied to a recipe calling for red peppers
when the red peppers aren’t the best on that particular day.
“Granted, we can’t grow pineapples in the U.P., so there
are things we need to ship in,” Sabol said.
If we need to buy imported products, Slow Food would ask us to
consider where the product came from, how it was produced and
whether the producers were justly compensated. In other words,
was the process fair?
In this way, Slow Food complements the idea of Fair Trade, which
is a market-based approach to empowering producers and promoting
sustainability. Both the Fair Trade and Slow Food movements promote
fair compensation and environmentally sound practices.
Fair Trade focuses on exports from developing countries to developed
countries, including coffee, cocoa, fresh fruit and flowers, among
others.
The Slow Food movement sees the consumer as a coproducer. By being
well informed and making decisions based on sustainability and
by actively supporting producers, the consumer becomes a partner
in the production process.
One way the movement hopes to encourage good eating and buying
habits is through taste education.
According to Slow Food International, “Good, clean and fair
food is only possible with knowledge—the knowledge of those
who bring food to the table and the knowledge of those who eat
it. Understanding more about our food, how it tastes and where
it comes from makes the act of eating all the more pleasurable.”
Education is a central part of what Slow Food does; through education,
taste buds will be reawakened and this will lead consumers to
be more concerned about where their food comes from, how it tastes
and how it’s produced. Slow Food offers programs for adults
and children, members and nonmembers.
Local chapters are called convivium, from the Latin con (with)
and vivere (live). The word is meant to highlight the conviviality
that is at the very core of what Slow Food is about.
Education takes many forms in a convivium. For example, a chapter
may organize trips to local farms, hold food or wine tastings
or organize a dinner featuring guest speakers.
The keystone of Slow Food education is the taste workshop. These
workshops are part of all large Slow Food events and consist of
experts teaching participants to taste and compare foods and match
them with wine and other beverages.
Slow Food also works with local schools providing teacher education,
nutrition curriculum consultation, school lunch suggestions and
organization of after-school programs.
Slow Food supports education in an effort to defend biodiversity,
and by doing so, it hopes to ensure the future of small farms
and heirloom plant species. This comes from the idea that in order
to truly appreciate food, we must protect “gastronomic resources.”
Several programs address this issue, including the Slow Food Foundation
for Biodiversity, which was created in partnership with the Region
of Tuscany (Italy).
The independent nonprofit entity supports projects such as the
Ark of Taste, the Presidia and Terra Madre. The foundation’s
wide range of interests is supported by both public and private
donors. Much of the foundation’s cash goes to projects in
less developed areas where preserving biodiversity is more than
just a quality-of-life issue, but is key to saving lives, communities
and cultures.
The Ark of Taste program was created in 1996 and supports biodiversity
by focusing on forgotten or marginalized foods that are at risk
of disappearing completely. The Ark identified more than 500 at-risk
animal breeds, fruit and vegetable varieties, prepared foods and
specific dishes and hopes to find parties interested in championing
their preservation.
The Presidia were created in 2000 to help producers directly.
Presidia are small-scale projects meant to protect traditional
production methods by supporting producers directly and helping
them find markets. The presidia have grown from just two in Italy
to more than 270 projects worldwide.
Slow Food events range from small get-togethers to big international
events with hundreds of thousands of visitors, journalists and
food professionals. These events are open to all members.
Convivium events include meals, tastings, fairs, festivals, workshops,
conferences, visits to local food producers, taste education initiatives
and just about anything that members can think of to help spread
the word in their area.
National and regional events also are very popular and varied.
Events include: Slow Bier in Münchberg (Germany), which was
Slow Food’s very first event celebrating artisanal beer and
the culture of brewing in Münchberg, in northern Bavaria.
The event included a bar with more than eighty different beers
and stands offering cured meats, cheeses and breads.
“Our century, which began and has developed under the insignia
of industrial civilization, first invented the machine and then
took it as its life model. We are enslaved by speed and have all
succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts
our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to
eat Fast Foods.”
It goes on to say speed may lead to our extinction and “A
firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose
the universal folly of Fast Life.”
Slow Food provides “an international exchange of experiences,
knowledge, projects” as a strong defense against extinction.
In fact, Slow Food International claims the movement could guarantee
a better future. It believes production and consumption as it
is today is harmful to both the earth and humans.
It believes biodiversity and sustainable methods are needed for
humans to continue to thrive.
“Taste, biodiversity, the health of humans and animals, well-being
and nature are coming under continuous attack.”
In a marriage of capitalist and communist thought, Slow Food International
states, “The consumer orients the market and production with
his or her choices and, growing aware of these processes, he or
she assumes a new role. Consumption becomes part of the productive
act and the consumer thus becomes a coproducer.”
Recognizing good food by taste may require some education, but
good food incorporates the producer’s choice of raw materials
and production methods. These should not alter the food’s
natural attributes.
Clean food is produced and delivered in a way that is sensitive
to the environment. Sustainable methods are used whenever possible,
and everything from seeds to delivery are examined to preserve
biodiversity and safeguard the heath of consumers and the ecosystem.
Fair food recognizes the right of the producer and laborer to
earn a living from their efforts and seeks to defend not only
the individual, but also his or her culture and traditions.
Slow Food followers believe everyone can contribute to good, clean
and fair production through the choices they make.
The movement was founded on the right to gastronomic pleasure
and the responsibility to protect the heritage, traditions and
cultures behind the food we eat.
Through convivia, members meet to share the joy of food. There
are more than 850 Slow Food convivia worldwide. Their activities
spread the “good, clean and fair” philosophy and connect
food producers to the Slow Food network.
Convivia are the backbone of Slow Food and they are made possible
through the efforts of local members who volunteer their time
and energy to make Slow Food ideals real.
Slow Food USA, formed in 2000, states its mission as, “Slow
Food USA seeks to create dramatic and lasting change in the food
system. We reconnect Americans with the people, traditions,
plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food.
We inspire a transformation in food policy, production practices
and market forces so that they ensure equity, sustainability and
pleasure in the food we eat.”
These philosophies mirror the Slow Food International ideals and
helped bring the idea to the United States.
Any current Slow Food member with a passion for food can start
a local chapter. Five current members are needed to begin the
process. A standard membership is $60, so for as little as $300
a community can form its own chapter. However, the chapter must
grow to at least twenty members within one year.
Chapters are required to keep Slow Food activities separate from
their business endeavors and establish separate bank accounts
for chapter business. Chapters also are required to implement
the Slow Food philosophy by holding at least three educational
events each year.
New chapters also are expected to work as a team to build the
chapter, attempt to build awareness in their area and recruit
new members. They also are asked to work cooperatively with other
chapters in the area, sharing resources and organizing events
together.
And, of course, keep in contact with the national office, sharing
news, questions and concerns. The national office requires an
annual financial report from each chapter, so the chapter should
adhere to the national organization’s standards as far as
structure and officers are concerned.
Events should be both educational and fun. Food- and beverage-tasting
workshops are common, as are tours of local farms and facilities.
Food preparation classes, dinners and cultural seminars also are
encouraged.
To start a chapter, once you have five members, request an application
from Slow Food USA. The new chapter coordinator is Yuri Asano
and he can be reached via e-mail or by phone on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Visit the Slow Food USA Web site at www.slowfoodusa.org for details.
Sabol, who recently returned from the Wisconsin Local Foods Conference
where they discussed the idea of regional distribution, among
other topics, sees a lot of waste in the way we get our food.
He wonders why Marquette gets chickens from Arkansas when there
is a perfectly good chicken farm in Manistique.
At the conference, a food bank manager from Milwaukee posed the
question, “if green beans are grown in central Wisconsin,
why do they need to be shipped all over creation before they end
up in the food bank?”
Sabol thinks regional distribution is a step in the right direction.
“There’s a continuum of what’s good,” Sabol
said. “Not every town needs a brewery, or a cheese factory.
But there should be options within 200 miles.”
Living in a northern climate may curtail some local options, but
there are alternatives. Slow Food embraces both local production
and imports produced in fair and sustainable ways.
Knowledge can help consumers choose good, clean and fair foods.
And if enough consumers choose Slow Food, the costs associated
with high quality, local or fair-trade foods will come down.
If you have questions regarding Slow Food, the potential Marquette
area chapter, or either the February 16 or March 8 meetings, call
Sabol at 228-4010 or e-mail at slowfood-mqt@sbcglobal.com
At its base, Slow Food is people getting together to enjoy good
food and drink—and helping to ensure generations to come
will be able to do the same. If this sounds good to you, please
consider helping create Slow Food Marquette.
MM
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