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BANG FOR THE BITE
Sharing meals of fresh, local food with family and friends is definitely better for you, the planet, and your relationships, but sadly the convenience factor isn’t there.
COCKTAIL FACT
Family dinners are back in vogue. According to a recent survey, nearly half of all families polled reported sharing 5 dinners a week, compared to 3 in 1979.
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home › tip library › Eco-Gastronomy: Slow Foods
Can you eat your way to more sustainable relationships?
The Bite
According to the Slow Food philosophy you can. What began as a protest to the opening of a McDonald's in Rome has become a global push to stop food homogenization, reintroduce the pleasure of slow-paced dining with family and friends, and encourage local, traditional foods.The Benefits
- Celebrate local food traditions and eat close to the source. Locally grown foods are better for you and the planet, and arguably taste better.
- Fewer empty calories. Most additives in processed foods are chemicals that lack nutritional value. Eat fewer packaged and more fresh foods.
- Less waste. Processing food expends more energy than the natural product. For example, a 1 lb box of cereal requires nearly 7 times as many kilocalories of energy to produce than it provides in nourishment.
- Enjoy a sit-down meal with family and friends. Savor each bite and the company of those with you.
Personally Speaking
Even if Heather has to sell a kidney, she is going to try to get to the Salon de Gusto (Slow Food Festival) in Turin this year. Great food and wine and Italy all rolled into one? Please.Wanna Try?
- Connect with your local Slow Food convivium to learn more.
- Host a Slow Foods dinner party. Get inspiration from these recipes and locate local markets , where you can purchase fresh and locally grown foods for your feast.
- For those who don’t like to cook, find sustainable and Slow Food restaurants in your area.
- Slow Food: The Case for Taste - by Slow Food movement founder Carlo Petrini ($10.17).
Mar 08,2006
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It wasn't always this way, so there is really no accounting for it, and I really can't explain to anyone (let alone myself) what happened.
I used to the COOK. Often. And well. I'd throw sometimes legendary dinner parties that took 2 days to prepare and seemingly longer to linger over and eat.
It's a bizarre and slippery slope, this move to a fast-food lifestyle (and no, I'm not talking about McDonalds). For me, the "fast" in my food is the complete disregard with which it's prepared, and the fact that it is seldom prepared by me, let alone anyone who knows and loves me.
I am compelled by the idea that the love we put into the preparation of food changes the actual quality of the food - not only in taste, but in property. Sort of a "Like Water for Chocolate" applied on a grand scale. While it seems like a dance into the world of magical realism, think on it;
Does any food in the world make you FEEL better than:
- The clumsy PB&J sandwich made for you by your child?
- The omelet and pancakes made for you by your lover?
- The soup made for you by the parent or friend caring for you when you are sick?
Slow it down. There is a reason that entire generations of civilization make references to food that is "almost as good as Mom's."
-Heather... guiltily off to (again) buy a morning scone...
Biter Comments...
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: Christina | March 08, 2006 at 10:56 AM