Today is Slow Food Movement Day.
So what’s Slow Food? It is the opposite of Fast Food that’s it. It’s as simple as that.
Slow Food Movement was founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986 and they started promoting it as an alternative for Fast Food. The Slow Food international movement officially began when delegates from 15 countries endorsed this manifesto, written by founding member Folco Portinari, on December 10, 1989. It is an international movement and according to Wiki, “The movement has since expanded globally to over 100,000 members in 150 countries. Its goals of sustainable foods and promotion of local small businesses are paralleled by a political agenda directed against globalization of agricultural products. “
Food, Clothing and Shelter are the basic and the same time important requirements of life. Gone are the days when we used to get farm fresh produce and cook fresh meals every day. We buy fresh food from grocery but who knows how long was in the transit? In this fast pace world, food also has become fast food. In order to balance work and life we opt for the easy and convenient fast food. Food Industry is one of the largest and complex industry and also controversial industry in today’s world. People discuss and debate the pros and cons of everything right from ingredient to the method of cooking. Some of the recent things that I came across was, Microwave cooking is safe or not? Cooking beans in slow cooker without soaking will release toxins? Is it safe to cook in aluminum pressure cooker directly? Can we warm honey? And there are many more questions.
Why do we need these movements, nutrition classes and what is the significance Does that mean do we need to go organic and natural? The next question that comes in our mind is, is it affordable to all? The slow food movement aims at rediscovering the local flavors and regional cuisine. When we buy seasonal vegetables and fruits from the local farmer’s market it is comparatively affordable and at the same time it helps the local farmers and promotes sustainable growth. ? In my opinion these movements brings in the health awareness and helps us to understand what we eat. The Child Nutrition and cooking course helped me to understand and interpret the labels. We need to understand the effect of junk food and sugar in our body.
Food which is the fuel for our body has direct impact on our health. As parents we need to understand what is MSG (Monosodium glutamate), refined carbs, blood sugar, fat and effects of fast food. Can we say no to fast food right away? No. When my work is hectic and when I am not able to cook I go for frozen food or fast food. But I limit it and keep it at the bay. As the proverb goes, “Too much of anything is good for nothing”.
On this Slow Movement Day, let’s try to understand and analyze our food and get back to our roots and see how we can incorporate the seasonal fruits and veggies along with healthy pulses and grains. A well balance diet and Exercise is the key for healthy life. Let’s eat healthy and stay healthy.
Couple of books that I read and reviewed,
Earlier Cross Posted here.
This is something that we need to understand sooner or later. I am skeptical about any kind of packaged food, but that’s what we seem to get nowadays! BTW, even the packaging causes ailments.
Try to read books by Vandana Shiva – they are very good.
Thanks a lot and for the reco too.
Great article Sri. Everything lies in moderation and as long as our habits are healthy, I think we are good. Sometimes I do consider that ignorance is bliss – especially in this age where anything and everything is analyzed, nothing seems to be good anymore. One says go only for organic food and milk. The very next moment someone else says, this is not 100% organic as they used xyz.. in place of abc.. and there goes a debate. Sigh. Too much information is sometimes making our lives hectic.
Thanks GB. Yup I agree with you totally. When I read something I feel the same way nothing is good. But in this social media world, even if we don’t want any information, information finds us and it is ready to confuse us :-) I have had many experiences like this is good and this is not especially after the kiddo was born. I do read and check for sodium, sugar and carbs especially for the store bought snacks and stuff. We can’t be too finicky too. As you mentioned as long as everything lies in moderation its good.