The slow food movement is a not for profit organisation founded in 1986 to counteract fast food, fast life, the disappearance of local food traditions, people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from,how it tastes, and how our food choices affect other people, communities, animals, plants and the environment. It evolved out of a protest led by Carlo Petrini to oppose the development of a Macdonald’s franchise near the Piazza di Spagna. It now has almost 100,000 members in 132 countries. Each branch is called a convivia (Slow food, 2010).
Slow Food envisions a new agricultural system that respects
• local cultural identities,
• the earth's resources,
• sustainable animal husbandry,
• the health of individual consumers,
• and preserves local, regional and national foods and practices that are threatened with extinction (Saville, 2010)
The Organic Food directory outlines that one of the key tenets of Slow Food is the belief in the right to pleasure and consequently the responsibility that comes with that to protect the heritage of food, traditions and culture that makes this pleasure possible.
It also illustrates that an important component of the Slow Food Movement is the commitment to educate children about the origins and taste of food - to help them to have a connection to the food they eat. It aims to help children develop their senses and their appreciation of food and the pleasure of eating as a gastronomic and social event.
