What is Slow Food?
Slow Food is a global, grassroots organisation focused on preventing the loss of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us.
Slow Food originated in Italy in 1986 as a response to the growth of fast food. When the first McDonald's was set to open near the Spanish Steps in Rome, Italian journalist Carlo Petrini gathered his friends in protest - where instead of brandishing signs, they dished out bowls of penne pasta to passers-by. Their slogan: "We don't want fast food.. we want slow food!".
Although the establishment of McDonald's in Italy was uninhibited by the efforts, the Slow Food movement was born, giving voice to another way of thinking about food and three years following the initial protest, Petrini and representatives of 15 countries met in Paris for the signing of the Slow Food Manifesto, detailing what they described as a Fast Life.
For further information on Slow Food International, click here