Slow Food UK aims to achieve long-term change in the thematic areas of biodiversity (preserving threatened foods and strengthening local economies through assisting small-scale producers and building short-supply chains), taste education (creating a better understanding and appreciation of the important connection between health, local food culture and agriculture) and food communities (connecting producers to consumers, creating awareness that showcases sustainable agriculture and artisan food production). This exchange of information, ideas, advice and practices takes place largely in three interconnected spheres: 1) at the national level among UK member groups and other collaborative actors; 2) at the international level linking UK groups to member groups around the world, including technical experts and other actors involved in food issues; and 3) by connecting and empowering farming and food communities in developed and developing countries – which we often refer to as the Terra Madre (Mother Earth) network – that are also impacted by our food choices and policies in the UK.
Good, Clean & Fair
Food should taste GOOD: the fast world's obessions with unnecessary industrialisation, excessive food miles, standardisation and homogeneity very often result in bland food that simply doesn't taste as good as food that has been produced locally with care, pride and passion.
Food should be CLEAN: it should be produced in a sustainable way, without any negative impact on our environment, and with a minimum of artificial intervention.
Food should be produced in a FAIR way: its producers should not be exploited but should be paid a fair amount for their skill and labour.
None of this means that Slow Food is against progress or technological advances. Far from it, Slow Food is a truly progressive concept that seeks to utilise mankind's ever-expanding knowledge base to retain and develop the diversity of all that is best in our world heritage.
Slow Food International Manifesto
The Slow Food international movement officially began when delegates from 15 countries endorsed this manifesto, written by founding member Folco Portinari, on November 9, 1989.
Our century, which began and has developed under the insignia of industrial civilization, first invented the machine and then took it as its life model.
We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Foods.
To be worthy of the name, Homo Sapiens should rid himself of speed before it reduces him to a species in danger of extinction.
A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life.
May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.
Our defense should begin at the table with Slow Food.
Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food.
In the name of productivity, Fast Life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. So Slow Food is now the only truly progressive answer.
That is what real culture is all about: developing taste rather than demeaning it. And what better way to set about this than an international exchange of experiences, knowledge, projects?
Slow Food guarantees a better future.
Slow Food is an idea that needs plenty of qualified supporters who can help turn this (slow) motion into an international movement, with the little snail as its symbol.
