Back to the roots

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: It's time to junk fast food and be a part of the Slow Food Movement

The charm of the burgers and pizzas persist. The health advisories also persist in telling you how bad fast food is for your well-being. But somewhere amidst the cacophony people are realising the worth of that age-old saying — that ‘slow and steady wins the race’. And followers of this mantra are turning to the food that is slow too. So the ‘back to the roots’ movement, christened better as the Slow Food Movement, is making its presence felt amidst the spiralling market for fast foods.

Carlo Petrini, the founder of the movement, is of the opinion that the concept of sustainable and healthy lifestyle is under threat from multinationals who are invading our culture with fast foo. But despite the onslaught, people are gradually opting for healthier eating options over empty calories.

“It is time the movement took a global form,” feels Petrini, who is busy organising people who vouch for their traditional cuisine.

Founded in 1986 in Italy, the Slow Food Movement gained the status of an international association within a short span of three years. It now boasts of 86,000 active members with offices in Germany, Switzerland, the US, France, Japan, and Britain. In fact, Terra Madre, the world meeting of food communities held every two years was born out of the Slow Food Movement. The third such meeting will take place later this October. 16,000 food communities from five continents, over 5,000 farmers, breeders, fishermen and artisan food producers, 1,000 chefs, restaurateurs and domestic cooks will descend in Turin, Italy, to showcase and defend ethnic cuisines from different countries. It will also be marked by the presence of 500 educationists and nearly 1,000 youth from the Youth Food Movement.

“Traditional food not only reflects the culture of the place but is also in tandem with the natural environment. Therefore, its health and eco-gastronomic quotient is high,” says Petrini. Take India for instance. Chef Manjit Gill of ITC Maurya Sheraton, Delhi, explains: “Our ancient Ayurvedic texts prescribe eco-gastronomy. The universe is made up of five elements — aakash, vayu, agni, jal and prithivi. These five elements manifest three doshas in our body called vat, pitt and kaph. Imbalance in the three doshas leads to diseases.”