Slow Food for Fast Times

Author: Eve Pranis

Slow food. The phrase might conjur up images of the restaurant meal that takes eons to appear, but try again. The Slow Food movement, which helps people engage consciously with food and those who produce it, was hatched in reaction to our mass-marketed fast food culture. In fact, it was the opening of the first MacDonald's in an ancient piazza (square) in Rome that inspired Italian cook and journalist Carlo Petrini to take action. His goals? To preserve cultural and regional flavors, elevate the status of local foods produced with ecologically benign methods, and get people (including youngsters) to take time to savor flavors and the conviviality of shared meals.

From Italy, the Slow Food concept spread to other countries. In this country, an emerging effort to bring Slow Food concepts into schools is taking shape and taking its cue from longstanding school garden and nutrition initiatives. What does it "look like" in action? Slow Food projects take many forms. Here is a sampling of the kinds of activities teachers and students are undertaking:

• Learning to nourish their bodies, families, and school communities with healthful local foods


• Using all their senses to experience foods


• Raising "earth-friendly" school gardens; contributing produce to school lunches


• Saving seeds of traditional vegetable varieties


• Learning from chefs, nutritionists, farmers, specialty food producers, grandparents, and others


• Inspiring and participating in farm-to-cafeteria programs


• Becoming lunchroom mentors


• Preparing and consuming foods together


• Using food as a lens for exploring regions and cultures


• Seeing gardening and nutrition education as more than just a unit, but a theme that carries from classroom to cafeteria to home throughout the year.

This may sound like a tall order, but there are a host of starting points. These depend on your school context and teaching and learning goals. Most classrooms start with bite-sized pieces: a small salad garden, visits to local farms, or an ethnic food event, for instance. This month we feature lessons that focus on flavors. "Taste education" - giving students time to hone their senses and experience food flavors - is one of the core components of the Slow Food movement. The food industry tends to peddle kids salty, sweet, and fatty foods devoid of complex flavors and textures. But when students have guidance for digging in with their senses to new and familiar foods, they are more apt to become aware and curious consumers willing to try new flavors and healthful fare. What's more, they become keen observers, sharpen vocabulary and communication skills, and grasp key science concepts. And that's just for starters.

In Cultivating Taste: Beyond the Food Pyramid, we share a host of flavorful lessons inspired by educators in Italy.

Classroom Snapshot
Third and fourth graders in a needy neighborhood in Harlem, NY, are sharing bowls of the salad they created from fresh tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella. Each month, they trek to the school's basement cafeteria to learn, cook, and taste; guest chefs, nutritionists, farmers - and even a chocolate maker - lead the way. They discover what's in season, how to enjoy and describe flavors, why a food is healthy, and what cultures use it. Meanwhile, the kids hardly notice how much math, writing and vocabulary, and social studies they're learning in the process.

Slow Food and School Wellness Policies
The federal government has issued a mandate through the Child Nutrition and WIC Reauthorization Act of 2004: to establish standards for diet and health in our nation's public schools. It calls for each school district to form a Wellness Committee and draft a district policy for 2006 that addresses the quality of school meals, physical education, and instruction connected to diet and health. Slow Food USA and the Center for Ecoliteracy have developed an exemplary Model Wellness Policy Guide that can inspire efforts in your school or district. Click here to download the guide in PDF format.

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Taste Education Articles and Activities

Cultivating Taste: Beyond the Food Pyramid

Come to Your Senses
Feast Your Eyes
Food: A Touching Experience
Growing a Knowing Nose
Flavor Sleuths: Making Sense of Taste

Savoring Flavors: Local Tastes Compete

Standards Addressed by Taste Education Activities