More Problems with Slow Food

Sexism, unsustainability, and meat

Photo by author

[This is the second article in a three-part series on Slow Food. If you missed part one, here’s the link.]

For those of you just tuning in, grab your shovels because we’re digging deep into the Slow Food movement. Founded in 1986 in Italy, Slow Food strives to “ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food.” By protecting rare varieties threatened by agricultural homogenization and teaching consumers to eat with pleasure and appreciation, the Slow Food movement hopes to bring some sanity back to our over-industrialized monocultural farming and “fast food” eating habits.

The movement’s name, which has since been adopted for all sorts of anti-globalist/ industrial/ capitalist revolutions (Slow Cities, Slow Travel, Slow Fashion, even Slow Reading), was first presented as an alternative to “fast food” and the “fast life.” The idea was to embrace slowness in every sense of the word. For Slow Food, this means that farmers should take their time to grow high-quality organic produce using traditional methods; cooks and producers should take the time to seek these products at local markets and farms; and consumers should take the time to carefully prepare these products and eat them with all their senses, savoring…