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The Limitations of the Slow Food Movement
Slow Food is a lifestyle of eating real, wholesome, natural foods, with an emphasis on getting involved in the preparation and production of the food so that when we eat, it is a shared communal experience and something to really enjoy. The idea is to go back to our roots so that we can all partake in the beauty of a nutritious lifestyle.
You would think that because Slow Food is all about community and the familial, unified group, it would be something which extends beyond social class boundaries. Checking out the Slow Food International website, however, tells a different story: to join the movement, you are required to pay a membership fee. Essentially, Slow Food International is saying that it costs dollars to eat well. That doesn’t quite coincide with their philosophy of sharing community experiences. Rather, it ostracizes any group that does not fit the upper or middle class, relegating the outside classes to deal with unhealthy fast food.
Slow Food is something that we should all be doing, no matter where we live in the world or what kind of background we have. We all have a right to the access of healthy, pure food. It is wrong that only those of us who can afford luxury are consuming healthy meals and are able to learn about the Slow Food way of life. The limitations of class, I feel, go against the very principles that Slow Food stands for.
In the Slow Food Companion, it is stated that “Slow Food is a grassroots association open to all, and the diversity of its members is one of its greatest strengths” (11). If their definition of “diversity” is “white middle-class middle-aged career-driven married men and women with families”, then yes, I believe that this statement is accurate. But unfortunately, that isn’t my definition of diversity, and it probably isn’t yours either. In trying to be inclusive, Slow Food has only resulted in really isolating a large group of people. In their exclusion they have lost one of the principle values which should be fundamental to the notion of Slow Food: involve everyone so that we can all reap the benefits and lead happier, healthier lives. Is that not the point of so much of what we do?
The breakdown of the membership fee at Slow Food International is troubling as well: 30-40% goes toward membership materials, postage etc; 20-30% goes toward local event planning; 15-20% goes toward newsletters and meetings; 10-15% goes toward publications; and 10% goes toward development of projects worldwide. This distribution of funds hinders the spread of awareness about Slow Food, as it is only a very specific group of people who will be involved in the events and meetings and who will be reading the publications and receiving the newsletters.
My opinion is that the development of projects worldwide should be getting about 80% of the membership fee. Ten percent is ridiculously low and quite frankly that’s shameful. With a movement as important as this, I expect to be seeing some real progress. Basically, it looks as though there’s just a membership fee so that it can be an elite program for the privileged.
If you want to learn more about the key concepts of Slow Food, Adrian Peace has written a really fantastic article entitled Barossa Slow The Representation and Rhetoric of Slow Food’s Regional Cooking, which discusses this very issue of the problems inherent to the Slow Food Movement.
I believe very strongly in the Slow Food Movement. However I think that some changes are needed within the organization to accommodate for a wider group of people. We should actively be working towards increased awareness about the problems of fast food and the importance of engaging in a Slow Food lifestyle. Through the inclusion of everyone and really doing something about cutting back on fast food- particularly the availability of fast food- as well as focusing on how we can restructure our busy lifestyles to incorporate Slow Food, I think that we can move forward to improving the health of people everywhere. We need to address the issues of the expense of healthy foods; we need to address the issues of the amount of time and effort needed to eat healthy in relation to our work schedules. A reorganization of our priorities is required.
Sagan Morrow is currently studying Rhetoric at the University of Winnipeg. She writes a health and wellness blog and is the Living Well columnist at The Uniter. Read more by Sagan Morrow.
