From StevenCee on Tue, September 01, 2009

Well Kate, I have to admit to being another one of those who’s heard of your organization, or movement, or whatever I may have thought it was, but never quite figured out what it meant, or was, or is…..

So, like the president, whom I’ve loved and supported from the first time I saw him, yet feel at times he doesn’t always get the “real story” out there well enough, so too, with “Slow Food USA”, whatever that is….

I’ve been a vegetarian, into holistic health & healing, for going on, well, let’s say for a few decades at least. Yet from the first I heard of “the slow food movement”, I wasn’t sure if it had to do with eating meals more slowly, perhaps chewing every bite more times, or spacing out courses, in order to make dining more sociable, or if it meant making meals from scratch, using non-processed ingredients, etc…

So, before reading further into the web site, I think I would be safe to say it’s a movement to change the nation’s paradigm & habits, towards eating, yeah?
I still don’t get the “slow” aspect of it, maybe I will, the more I read through your blog. And while I’m not big on joining organizations, I probably will sign up for yours, as eating healthfully is so very important, yet still a “swimming upstream” path in this country…

From Lenora on Wed, September 02, 2009

I’m grateful to StevenCee in his comments above for voicing some of what I’ve been thinking.  I’ve been looking at your website—especially the “What is Slow Food?” page. While I think have some sense of your mission and at least a few of the things that are important to the organization, I’m still not sure I understand the name. (Slow, in what way?) My best guess is that you don’t literally mean slow food so much as you mean the opposite of “fast food”?

I’m also not honestly clear on what I would be committing to by joining. I do try to support local growers, and eat organic when I can.  I eat far less meat than I once did, but I’m not a vegetarian by any means—much less a vegan.  There is much that disturbs me about how food is grown, distributed, and marketed in this country… how animals are treated, etc.  Politically, there is much that troubles me in the Farm Bill and elsewhere. But I’m also a very busy person who does not do a lot of cooking and finds it challenging to make the time I’d like to shop for and prepare foods in optimal ways.  To make matters worse, I am an incredibly picky eater and not at all adventurous when it comes to unfamiliar foods and/or preparations.

So, I guess I’m something of a “moderate” when it comes to food issues and can’t help but wonder if I would be an outsider in an organization of passionate purists?  There are admittedly other progressive issues about which I am better informed and more active, and already I feel I don’t have the time or money I’d like to devote to causes with which I’m currently affiliated.

So I offer these thoughts mostly in the “for what it’s worth” category. I applaud your efforts to clarify who you are and what you do for those of us who are somewhat uninformed and to encourage membership through waving the $60 mandatory donation this month. It’s, frankly, the only reason I’m even considering it—not necessarily because $60 isn’t reasonable or that I couldn’t possibly afford it, but because $60 is a lot to plunk down if you are not yet certain it’s even the right organization for you. 

Good luck to you, Kate!  Thank you for your blog and the offer.  I’ll keep exploring the website and giving it more thought.

All the best!
~Lenora

From Michael Zehrer on Wed, September 02, 2009

You don’t have to be a Slow Food member to learn more about the Slow Food ideas and projects or to support Slow Food. Here in Berlin guests are always welcome to join us in our activities. But if you really want to join you have to pay the price. The Slow Food projects like Terra Madre and the various local activities need the money. And for the same reasons that make you pay more money for good food, because you understood the principles of “good, clean, fair” you should pay the money that Slow Food needs. Slow Food is not a mass movement, It’s all about quality and sustainability. We don’t need more and more anonymous members, this is in no way “slow”.

From Joy Feldman on Wed, September 02, 2009

Thank you for this wonderful blog site. It is great to learn that this slow food movement is expanding globally. How wonderful it is to see back to basics eating,  the support of local farming, and a new way of eating and living. Please keep spreading the word so more people learn to adapt this wonderful way of slowing down.
Best, Joy Feldman

From Teresa Maurer on Wed, September 02, 2009

Do you have downloadable postcard size membership forms that we can give to interested potential members at our Time for Lunch Eat In?

From Lora Horn on Wed, September 02, 2009

I’ll have to admit I have only a vague idea of what your organization does, and part of the problem is that when I click on your link, “What is Slow Food?”  it doesn’t tell me any more than I already know.

You need a solid definition of what slow food is and a brief description of exactly what you do—meet in groups?  lobby?  promote growing of heirlooms and rare breeds?  I really have to search hard to get that from your website.

From Katherine Forsythe on Wed, September 02, 2009

Hi Kate. Thanks for expanding this to everyone’s pocketbook! These are tough times for all of us. The irony is that when the wallet get squeezed, we who previously shunned traditional grocery stores, start to look for good deals at Safeway - even those of us who wholeheartedly support sustainable farming. (By the way, for first time visitors, you might define “sustainable”.) I just dropped $100 at a local farmers market, and that didn’t get my 1/2 way through my shopping list, which I had to complete at Safeway. I appreciate your consumer-friendly outreach of anything-will-help in donations.
As for the name SLOW Food: I think of it as “slow” as in mindfully grown and harvested - it takes more time, hence slowly, instead of the cookie cutter operations of the big food corporations. Because I am at the leading edge of the Boomers (age 61), I remember when food was mostly “slow” and “fast food” was a wonder of modern science. I remember when there was no such thing as McDonald’s. The difference is that today we learned enough to know what is safe and healthy to use to fertilize and grow (so there is no excuse for poisoning ourselves with pesticides et al), and what’s not. Back then, we were ga-ga over the newfangled chemicals that were coming along and made our food bigger, last longer, and more attractive. We thought we were doing the right thing by spraying untested chemicals. Now, we have learned better, and Slow Food is helping us incorporate what we know is best into our lives.
To me, Slow Foods is about getting us back to the future, where we can use the information we learned in the last 60 years about what’s nutritious and what’s poison, to give us food today that will nourish us, and taste wonderful. From where I sit, it means getting back to a time when food really tasted as it was intended to taste. If anyone remembers the luciousness of real strawberries and the extraordinary taste of corn freshly picked, they will pledge whatever they can to help you do your mission.

From Tricia Butler on Wed, September 02, 2009

Hi,

Thanks for this post and explaining what you do in more depth.

The link to join does not seem to be working. Would you please fix it so we can all get on board?

Thank you!

From Jerusha on Wed, September 02, 2009

Egad—thanks for the heads up, Tricia—it should be fixed now!

From Lenora on Wed, September 02, 2009

I’m not sure I understand Michael Zehrer’s final comment above.  I do appreciate the fact that any worthwhile organization has to cover its expenses and members must ultimately be willing to pay the price for membership, but surely it’s reasonable to articulate what membership means/includes/involves? Aside from the membership fee, what is the difference between joining and simply supporting the general principles of your organization? (That’s not a rhetorical question or an argument one way or the other; I’m genuinely asking.)

You say you don’t want more and more anonymous members, but surely if these principles are of universal importance, you would want to educate others (i.e. “outsiders,” perhaps currently anonymous) about who and what you do and welcome some portion of them to join you? Or maybe not. Maybe that goes against the grain of the whole “slow” philosophy?  I’m not trying to be argumentative or butt in where I’m not welcome. I’m just trying to understand.  I believe there may be some mixed messages about who “belongs” in Slow Food USA. (Perhaps there is internal disagreement about that very thing?)  I would think those of you in the organization might want to be aware of that perception.

From Kate Krauss on Wed, September 02, 2009

Hi everyone,
Thanks so much for all this great feedback. You can never tell with blogging whether you’re sort of yelling into the void or not, and I’m excited to see that not only are people reading this, you’re actually taking the time to share thoughtful responses. Thank you. I want to address all the comments here, but I know I don’t have much space, so I’ll try to get as much as I can in without going on too long.
  First, to address Michael Zehrer, I respect your position, but one of our biggest challenges is getting past the public notion that we’re expensive and elitist, and that access to good, real food is somehow a privilege. It should be a right for all people—though too often in some communities that’s not the case.  We’re working on a system that makes that idea the reality.
  The name “Slow Food” came about—as Lenora suggests—did come about in response to “fast food.” The idea is that food that is heavily processed and eaten on-the-go is making us fat and sick, and it’s fragmenting our communities and hurting our environment. By eating food that is real and that you or someone else has taken time to prepare, we can improve our health and the fabric of our communities.
  And Lenora, your sense of being somewhere in the middle makes you as much as a fit for this organization as anyone. I’ll confess in this public forum that while I’m passionate, I’m not always a purist. (Keeping quiet for now, though, on my secret guilty pleasures.) But like most of the people I know in this organization, I do what I can when I can.
  The point is really that we want to eat food we can believe in, food that is actually helping mend fractured communities and unhealthy bodies, not food that is being grown or prepared in a way that is causing the problems in the first place. We are working to make it easier and more fun. And the fun part is important. I’ve never met a group of people that have more enjoyment with eating and making food—and at virtually every Slow Food event I’ve been to in various chapters around the country I’ve found a similar sort of community. We’re certainly not an organization of vegetarians (though there are plenty among us), though I’d say we look for meat options that we can feel good about and try to eat a little bit less.
  So what does that mean specifically? While we’re not at this point doing any direct lobbying, we are trying to pressure decision makers by fostering and promoting a movement of people who care about these issues and want healthier food choices that aren’t prohibitively expensive. We’re organizing the Time for Lunch campaign and the National Day of Action on Labor Day to begin to give voice to that movement. We’re also devoting resources to supporting a network of local Slow Food chapters that provide opportunities to engage with like-minded people in their community and to help grow both the supply of good, local food and local awareness and demand for it. In essence, we’re trying to create a groundswell of demand for better food and better food policy that can help change the system by pushing on it from the bottom up.
  So: by becoming a member, you are helping get this done both by providing financial resources to get some of this done and also adding another voice to the movement. We also send out connect you to your local Slow Food community and provide information about the issues and the developments. For more info on member benefits, check out http://www.slowfoodusa.org/growthemovment/.
  And to Teresa - yes! We have ideas for how to promote our membership drive at your local Eat-In. Please email me directly (.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)) so that I can provide you with specific help. Thanks for asking!
  Thanks again everyone for your comments. Keep ‘em coming! And let me know if I missed something.

From konnoraiden on Thu, September 03, 2009

There are just a few ideas depending on your needs and likes. When you first move in take paper plates, napkins, plastic silverware, plastic cups and trashbags. Save yourself work and get frozen pizzas, frozen lasagnas, frozen fried chicken, pot pies or t.v. dinners. You can add a salad, frozen bread sticks, frozen garlic bread and some fruit to round out the meal. You will be working hard enough with the move and unpacking to not have to worry about cooking as well.Richmond tuxedos

From Michael Zehrer on Thu, September 03, 2009

Kate, yes access to good, real food IS somehow a privilege and it’s part of the truth is that we have to spend more money on food than we do now. In Germany people spend 11% or less of their income on food, that’s halve of the amount they did in the 60s. It’s a simple fact that you can’t have a better food system on a budget. Look at the new “organic” monocultures, the food is maybe healthy and maybe cheaper than “organic” food was before, but behind it there is still monoculture and cheap labour. People have to understand their role as “coproducers” and that they are not passive consumers. And they have to accept that qualtity, which is not only healthy food, but also cultivation that protects our environment and a market system that garanties farmers an acceptable income, has it’s price. And if the public notion is that we’re expensive and elitist our reaction can’t be a lower price tag but slow and steady work until more people understand what we really do.

From Jorge on Fri, September 04, 2009

I am forwarding this post to ALL my friends!

From Gina Palmertree on Fri, September 04, 2009

I was first introduced to Slow Food USA when I attended a screening of “Slow Food Nation” - the folks next to me in the theatre were talking about it.  I didn’t even realize there was a group devoted to promoting the movement.  We all talked about how that was a cool concept, but none of us could really figure out what SFA did, other than maybe donate their donations to farmers who needed a boost.

I realize that funds donated need to go to actual programs.  But I think members might feel more appreciated if there were more tangible benefits to joining.  Would SFA consider putting out, say, a calendar that features a recipe per month, containing foods that are in season for that month?  That kind of tool would both provide members with a tangible benefit and educate them about how to further the movement.  Thanks Kate!

...also, this is a great dialogue. I’ve already learned a lot about the movement by reading the comments.

From Bear Braumoeller on Mon, September 07, 2009

Hi Kate.  An elaboration on that “at this point” caveat about direct lobbying would be welcome; as a member in good standing for more than ten years, I’m more than a little curious about that aspect of the organization’s future.

As to the other points that have been raised, to all of you folks who are curious about what Slow Food is, I’d say, first and foremost, find your local chapter and check out some of their events.  That’s where the rubber meets the road, and chapters really vary a lot in terms of the events that they organize and run.  My wife and I lead a chapter in central Ohio, and we try to combine what we see as the best aspects of the European and the American organizations: the focus on slowing down and savoring one’s food as a way of getting people to savor time, friends, family, and life that we saw in Italy more than anywhere else, combined with the energy, optimism, social conscience, and belief that change is possible that characterize the American organization.

That’s the tone that we try to set, because we think it works for us and for our memberships.  But chapters are as different as the people who make them up, and when you look at the events that they organize you’ll get a sense of their spirit.

From StevenCee on Mon, September 07, 2009

Hi,
Just a follow-up, since first posting. After reading all the comments, as well as waking this morning to the local organization’s head (or rep) being interviewed on the radio, I realized something, an unfortunate fact of life; progressives just don’t have the verbal marketing smarts of right-wingers/conservatives, and usually get to the debate after they’ve already framed the discussion to their liking.

We have some very smart, even brilliant people on the “progressive” side of the fence, yet when it comes to putting a label on, and defining a particular movement, (“Pro-Life”, “Moral Majority”, etc), or legislation/policy (“Patriot Act”, “Death Tax”, “Defense of Marriage”, “School Choice”, etc.), terms that immediately elicit a positive & clearly definable message go missing.

Progressive movements get tagged, “pro-abortion/“killing babies”, “un-patriotic/un-American”, “soft on defense/naive”, “anti-family values”, & “imposing of-” “gun control”, “government healthcare”, “government handouts”, etc. 

As for the “Slow Food” movement, is having a name that A) Gives 10 people 10 different ideas as to what it means, B) Has to be researched, at length, even by those who already shared its values, & C) Is often defined, by even its spokespeople, in terms which don’t include “Slow”?

Today, the representative of our local Slow Food movement, when asked what it was, said, “It means getting back to Real Food”. Now that is quite clear, unambiguous, and needs no web-surfing to understand. I recall the first time I heard someone mention they are into “Slow Food”, I immediately assumed it was a social networking group, who maybe have regular meals together, where they take their time..  Or I thought it may have meant cooking things from scratch, both of which I now see, make up some of what it means.

IMHO, one quick way of explaining the term “Slow Food” could be, “the opposite of Fast Food”, again, promoting real vs processed “food”, although, like the term “African-American”, it still keeps it in the ambiguous/not-completely-accurate category, since fresh fruits & vegetables can also be considered “fast food”, when eaten raw, alone or in a salad.

So, while I know it’s too late to change the movement/organization’s name to “Real Food”, I would suggest that a short, & concise definition be arrived at, and used throughout the network of national & local groups. Perhaps then, confusion could be eliminated, and the learning curve be greatly shortened.

From Bear Braumoeller on Mon, September 07, 2009

Steven, not a bad point.

Personally, I have a one-sentence and a one-paragraph answer.  The one-sentence answer is that Slow Food is a movement aimed at undoing what fast food has done to the food system.

The one-paragraph answer mentions Slow Food’s emphasis on “good, clean and fair” food, explains what each of those is, and just mentions how we advance those causes (taste education, biodiversity, etc.)  People who want to know more generally pick up on something in that paragraph that interests them, and we go from there.

From StevenCee on Mon, September 07, 2009

Hey Bear,

I like your one-sentence response, that seems like a winner!