“It’s ze power of ze chocolat, no?” the French stranger asked me. I had just dropped a heavy jar of chocolate spread on the table with a massive clatter, and he had looked over at me with a smile from across the long French country table. This is the kind of spontaneous interaction you will encounter in places that embrace the Slow Food movement, one which encourages remembering the values of the past and bringing them into our modern lives.
Some of those values are the very ones that my parents taught me growing up. I learned to make conversation at the table by listening to my parents at meals. I learned not to waste food by finishing every last vegetable on my plate. I learned to respect other people by waiting for everyone to sit down together before touching any food. I learned to contribute to the natural cycle by taking the compost out every night. And I also learned to value the nutrition found in my father’s organic vegetables.
In recent years, the movement towards incorporating organic food into restaurant menus and individual diets alike has gained a huge following. Organizations like Slow Food are helping bring awareness to the global community on issues regarding food appreciation and the importance of changing our modern food culture. The movement, started in Italy in 1986 by Carlo Petrini, is staunchly opposed to our fast food culture. The movement aims to promote the consumption of local, traditional, genuine food.
The Slow Food movement is part of the broad Slow movement that began when Petrini protested the opening of a McDonald’s near a famous landmark in Rome. The entire philosophy revolves around the age old motto “quality, not quantity,” advocating for balance in our frenetic modern world. It is not about returning to the lifestyle that our grandparents and great-grandparents lived, but rather about incorporating the best aspects of the old and the new in order to allow us to appreciate life more fully.
This philosophy is revolutionary in that it advocates for a complete rejection of the modern food culture. Food, like sleep and free time, is not enjoyed to the extent that it once was, seen more as an essential for survival, rather than a pleasurable activity which can draw people together.
For Georgetown students like myself, it is easy to just go to Leo’s Grab ’n’ Go, forgoing the sit-down meal with friends.
But what does this have to do with food in the greater context of D.C.? Thirteen restaurants are listed on the “Where to Eat” page of the DC Slow Food movement website. At the top, the page states that “the Washington, D.C. metro area has become one of the nation’s hottest restaurant destinations, with many of its finest restaurants buying as much local, sustainable food as possible.” It is notable that the high end restaurants are not the only ones accepting the Slow Food philosophy. Chains like Le Pain Quotidien, whose philosophy, “sitting together around the idea of pleasure,” incorporates a central ideal of the Slow Food movement.
Le Pain Quotidien incorporates the traditional French farm table ritual where strangers rub elbows while they enjoy the “elegant boulangerie fare made with organic ingredients whenever possible.” This kind of practice promotes sustainable food practices as well as sustainable social practices and lifestyle choices. Once a small bakery and now a global chain, the restaurant exemplifies the spread of the Slow Food philosophy.
In our own city, the mission of the Slow Food chapter is “Supporting good, clean, and fair food.” This mission has spread to much of the general culture, evident in the increase of local farmers’ markets in the D.C. area. Take our own university, for instance. The Georgetown University Farmers’ Market, which provides students with fresh produce in the spring and fall, started in the spring of 2011 and has become a staple of the food culture at the university.
Such movements create the opportunity for people to be able to access fresh, local produce. This push is especially relevant to city dwellers and also to college students who have fewer options and fewer means to seek out sustainable, local food. By bringing fresh produce directly to us, the Farmers’ Market becomes a part of the Georgetown community and thus is able to retain its sense of charm.
Leonardo DiCaprio tells us in Inception that “the most resilient parasite” is an idea. The idea we are seeing spread across the globe is that, while we have gained a lot as a society with the progress and advancement of technology, there are certain negative aspects to this way of life that we must learn to see. The only way to maintain a healthy lifestyle is by remembering balance, and the Slow Food movement is attempting to address that need by reminding us of the values we had in the past.
