Slow Food

[food junkie]

Any other Slow Foodies here? (Besides Kurt...hi Kurt! ) Actually most of you probably are and many of you don't even know it.

Slow Food USA Forum

[phatch]

I'm not.

Phil

[food junkie]

Originally Posted by phatch

I'm not.

Phil

I'm not so sure about that, friend...I read great number of your posts and I think you might be.

[dano1]

i try not to use the micro....does this count?
danny

[food junkie]

Originally Posted by dano1

i try not to use the micro....does this count?
danny

...and I try not to use the dough hook on my Kitchen-Aid when baking, but I'm gonna have to say no.

I love Chef humor...

[phatch]

Originally Posted by food junkie

I'm not so sure about that, friend...I read great number of your posts and I think you might be.

I didn't post my response until I had followed the link and others, reading about the purposes, intents, programs and such.

There are aspects I agree with. But no, I am not a Slow Food kind of person.

Phil

[food junkie]

Originally Posted by phatch

I didn't post my response until I had followed the link and others, reading about the purposes, intents, programs and such.

There are aspects I agree with. But no, I am not a Slow Food kind of person.

Phil

Oh well...win some, lose some...I sure enjoy reading your posts regardless. Thanks for checking it out!

[Anneke]

Originally Posted by phatch

I didn't post my response until I had followed the link and others, reading about the purposes, intents, programs and such.

There are aspects I agree with. But no, I am not a Slow Food kind of person.

Phil

I second that. I like a good braise. I like lunch at the farmhouse. I buy organic when I can. But I'm not a slow food gal. The spirit of the movement is good but the logic is a bit flawed. Balance is everything.

[food junkie]

I certainly respect your decision, but what do these statements mean?

Originally Posted by Anneke

The spirit of the movement is good but the logic is a bit flawed. Balance is everything.

Could it be any of these things are enough of a turn off to any of you that you just can't overlook them enough to identify with the Slow Food thing?

Is the Slow Food thing to liberal? (In a stereotypical Rush Limbaugh kinda way)
Is it too fascist? (I mean they do suggest there are certain ways of eating and types of food that are preferable over others)
Maybe it's too European? (It was started by Italians...who have also been notoriously Fascist in the past...)
Too granola? (Like wow man...big greedy corporate agribusiness is killing Mother Earth)
Too snobbish? (Pietro Tatrizzola's family has been making coppa in the same fashion in their little village for 5 generations...why would anyone buy Boarhead instead of Pietro?)
Too eco-friendly? (Save the Truffle!)
Too political? (I'm gonna lose my lunch if I have to hear one more word about big farm subsidies or deforestation due to cattle grazing...)

...or maybe something entirely different? I gots ta know!

[phatch]

Those issues all bear in my opinion and some others as well-- except the too european. That didn't bother me.

There was way too much politics in it though. Plus a HUGE dose of elitism and snobbery.

Phil

[food junkie]

Originally Posted by phatch

Those issues all bear in my opinion and some others as well-- except the too european. That didn't bother me.

There was way too much politics in it though. Plus a HUGE dose of elitism and snobbery.

Phil

Cool! Thanks for the response, Phil.

[blue_wolf]

I'm also a slow foodie. I do try to shop organic, and am currently getting in contact with farms in the area. However, I'm not as hard-core into the movement as other individuals. I support the keeping of the artisian ways, but I am not thinking about this constantly or discussing it on a regular basis. Like all concepts, it is good as long as it isn't over done. But, that just my opinion

[Devotay]

Originally Posted by phatch

Plus a HUGE dose of elitism and snobbery.

Phil, I have been wrestling with this misconception a great deal, and trying to figure out its roots. Perhaps you can help me.

My dictionary says that elite means: "the choice or most carefully selected part of a group, as in a society of profession." (and also a kind of typewriter). Is there something wrong with a group of people who believe that the Delaware Bay Oyster, or Hand-Parched Wild Rice, or the Suncrest Peach (among hundreds of other foods) are items that are worth preserving? What about the way of life of the Uzbek goat herder or the Tibetan yak's milk cheese maker or a sumatran coffee grower? Is there something wrong with wanting these things to continue to exist? Because that's what Slow Food does.

The dictionary also says that (besides being a shoemaker) a snob is "a person who attaches great importance to wealth, social position, etc., having contempt for and keeping aloof from those whom he considers his inferiors, often one admiring, imitating, and seeking to associate with those whom he considers his superiors" ALSO "A person who regards himself as better than others in some (specified) way and behaves undemocratically."

Aside from its ability to feed and educate my children, I attach no great importance to wealth, and Slow Food as an organization doesn't have enough money to do so. As for the "contempt" and "aloof” parts of the definition, as well as the "admiring and imitating" parts, we certainly don't do that with regard to people. If we do it with regard to food (and we do), it is only because we see those foods as under threat of extinction from the onslaught of the industrialization and standardization of foods and flavor, and wish to protect them.

I see no snobbery whatsoever in protecting farmers and artisans and the food they produce. I see no snobbery at all in teaching elementary school children to taste foods consciously and conscientiously. I see no snobbery in drawing closer connections between a community and its local farmers. This is what Slow Food does.

If we throw some big, fancy-schmansy dinners along the way, what’s wrong with that? It’s what keeps most of the people on this forum (including me) gainfully employed.

Perhaps you meant, through insinuation or otherwise, that we are "intellectuals." If so, then to that I plead guilty on behalf of the movement, and myself, since I have never understood the negative connotations that some in our society have attached to that word. I for one would be proud to have the word applied to me, if it can be, because it means “of or done by the intellect; appealing to the intellect; requiring or using intelligence; having or showing a high degree of intelligence.” Slow Food sounds pretty smart to me.

[Devotay]

Per CC's request, let's move this to the Late Night Cafe.

Please continue the coversation at http://www.cheftalkcafe.com/forums/s...078#post109078

[KyleW]

I'm a member of the NYC Convivium, but I do use my dough hook constantly