As protests go it was a light-hearted one, but on that day Carlo’s initiative gained a name and a movement was born.

 

Twenty four years after McDonald’s plans for the Piazza di Spagna were defeated, Slow Food (with a snail as its symbol) has grown into a worldwide association of more than 100,000 members in 132 countries, represented by more than 1000 local chapters known as convivia. As a movement, it has also come a long way from one man’s concern about the harmful impact of global fast food franchises and industrialised food production on Italy’s traditional food and wine producers.
 

Today, the multifarious activities of Slow Food include the study of food production techniques, the defence of biodiversity by promoting sustainable models of agriculture that are respectful of the environment, and the support of small-scale, sustainable local economies worldwide.

With the visionary Carlo Petrini still at the helm, the movement also organises conferences, events, exhibitions and workshops such as the Salone Internationale del Gusto, which celebrates artisan foods; the Ark of Food, which promotes protection status for heritage and endangered crops; and Terra Madre, an extraordinary meeting held every two years in Turin, which unites delegates as diverse as Mexican farm workers, French chefs, Mongol herdsmen, Californian university professors, Vietnamese fisherfolk and Italian wine producers in the defence of traditional foods and livelihoods and biodiversity.
 
It’s an impressive range of initiatives for a non-profit organisation that is funded by member contributions (in New Zealand individual membership of Slow Food costs a $105 a year and $130 for couples), and which relies heavily on unpaid and volunteer efforts.
 

The growth and development of New Zealand’s food culture in recent decades has seen the Slow Food movement gain ready acceptance here. The first New Zealand convivium was established in Christchurch a decade ago and in 2006 the town of Matakana, just north of Auckland, was registered as Australasia’s first ‘Città Slow’ (Slow Town). Other convivia are in Waitakere City, Auckland, Tauranga, Kapiti, Wellington, Marlborough and Otago and at the time of writing a convivium was being planned for New Plymouth.
 

“Because New Zealand has fortunately not had the urgent food issues that other parts of the world have faced, the Slow Food movement here tends to centre around the eating experience,” says Claire Inwood, leader of the Waitakere City convivium. Claire and other convivia members are quick though to correct any misconceptions that Slow Food is purely about enjoying long lunches, or is only about gourmet foods, or aimed at leisured, middle-class people.

“Our members come from all walks of life,” Claire says, “and they’re united by their shared interest in good, fresh, seasonal, local food and knowing where it comes from.” 
 

As befits an organisation with a grass-roots emphasis, the activities of Slow Food convivia are also frequently hands on.

The Waitakere City convivium, for instance, is deeply involved in gardens for schools projects in its region with members rolling up their sleeves more than once to help with the physical labour. As with other convivia throughout New Zealand, internet blogs and regular email newsletters keep the 55-strong Waitakere City membership updated about progress.
 

It’s much the same in Marlborough, where members of the country’s second largest convivium have variously helped to establish a kitchen garden for a hotel, assisted with grape harvests and otherwise got to grips with local food and produce through classes in pickling, preserving, bread making and fish cookery conducted by local chefs.
 
Last year, the convivium was nominated for a Trustpower Community Award for its work in encouraging the protection of Marlborough’s food heritage and promoting a culture of food appreciation. Members are now looking into possible projects involving sustainable fishing and a children’s lunch box competition to be organised through the Blenheim Farmers’ Market.

“The support we’ve received from the Marlborough community since we started in early 2007 has been great,” says Marlborough convivium leader, MJ Loza, who is also the general manager of Seresin Estate Wines.

“There’s a real public acceptance of what we are doing and that it is not elitist. People understand that it’s all about knowing where your food comes from and all the good things that come from that. And there are so many world-class food producers in the Marlborough region that we’ll be busy for a long time to come.” 
 

The central principle of Slow Food, here and overseas, is the promotion of pleasure – in good food, in wholesome and sustainable ways of producing it and in the benefits that it brings to individuals and communities.
 
But it is striking how the experience of attending a Slow Food event transcends simple hedonism. One Saturday afternoon in February I joined some of the Waitakere City convivium on a visit to a West Auckland winery. At the end of the visit the group, which included an encouraging number of younger people, tasted four of the wines we had just seen in various stages of preparation in tanks and vats. As we sat under a shady trellis of grape vines, a group of strangers brought together by a splendid common cause, the talk turned general – and the reason why Slow Food’s local chapters are called convivia became clear.
 

For more information about the international Slow Food Movement visit online at slowfood.com

Slow Food Waitakere City – visit online at slowfoodwaitakere.blogspot.com

Slow Food Marlborough – visit online at slowfoodmarlborough.blogspot.com

 

Photo by Dish Magazine

Story by John Corbett