The Winds Of Change?

If you haven't heard the news, Slow Food Nation opens this Friday in San Francisco. Slow Food Nation is a festival organized by Slow Food USA to celebrate locally produced, sustainable foods and a "slower" lifestyle when it comes to the entire act of eating.

Now, you would think that this would be something right up my alley, right?

Well, yes and no.

When the Slow Food Movement was founded in Italy by Carlo Petrini in 1986, it was an amazing statement on the state of world's food system. Petrini founded the organization to combat the growing globalization of food production that favored fast food produced by large corporations far away from its place of actual consumption. In reaction, Slow Food called for people to get back in touch with their local food economies. That is, to purchase local goods from local folks. The benefits of this are obvious in that it encourages local business, focuses on local cuisine, supports the propagation of heirloom varieties, and connects us to our daily sustenance.

However, something has gone wrong since 1986.

And, leave it to Americans to take an concept from Europe and twist it into something that it was never intended to be. Kind of reminds me of Fox's Kitchen Nightmares, which is a remake of BBC's Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. They get most of the words right, but they miss the actual substance.

At the risk of being pilloried by foodies throughout this country, I must say that I am relatively unimpressed with Slow Food USA. You see, the organization has been co-opted by a group of elitist food snobs, primarily centered in the San Francisco Bay Area. While these individuals advocate for the importance of local foods and sustainable agriculture, they also preach only to a wealthy few who can afford their special foods and unique lifestyle. The foods that they champion are more "gourmet" than "local" and are out of reach of your average American.

I believe that these food snobs have disregarded traditional American agriculture. What Slow Food USA doesn't realize is that less than 100 years ago, all food in the United States was in essence "slow food." Our move away from our agricultural past has been fast but it has also been recent. And, we cannot recover our past by disregarding it.

But, this is exactly what is happening.

Slow Food USA forgets that there are still Americans out there who continue to live close to the land. The San Francisco Bay Area and California do not have a monopoly here. In fact, it is many of the "red states" in which these traditions continue, particularly in the American South. And, the reason for this is simple.

Poverty breeds economy. And, traditionally, economy keeps us close to the land.

In poor rural areas throughout this country, you will find people still living off the land. Sure, Wal-Mart is continually trying to make inroads to these areas and people are losing their traditional skills, but there is a continuity that survives. Even in our relatively urban or suburban setting, I am continually surrounded by folks who, without thinking twice about it, grow gardens, can foods, cure meats, and even use root cellars.

We have a "slow" tradition and it definitely is not being "preserved" by a wealthy few. It is being enacted every day by groups of folks who would feel mighty uncomfortable eating at Alice Waters' Chez Panisse. In fact, they would probably have a difficult time even speaking the same language as Alice Waters.

What we see happening with Slow Food USA is a classic example of an elite class co-opting the traditions of the lower classes. In doing so, they remove the "taboo" barrier associated with class, claim ownership of the tradition, and make it inaccessible to the lower classes who created it in the first place.

Are you following me here?

Perhaps I can better make this point by using an example from the world of food. So, let's talk about polenta for a moment.

In my family's homeland of Friuli in northeastern Italy, maize was introduced not long after the "discovery" of the "New World." As many of you know, maize was first domesticated by the native populations of the central valley of Mexico. Prehistorically, the grain spread fast throughout Central and North America, becoming the agricultural staple of many societies. For Europeans, who were used to such grains as wheat and barley, maize appeared to be a wonder food. It was fast growing and extremely productive with a low labor investment. European elites imported the grain as a cheap way to feed the masses. So, while the elite ate bread made from wheat, they expected the poor to eat gruel made from maize.

Having little choice in the matter, the poor raised maize and embraced it as their own. In northern Italy, they substituted this maize for their bread as they created polenta. While the dish is filling, it isn't all that nutritious. Being a staple of their diet, the poor suffered numerous health problems as polenta became their daily bread. Folks who rely on maize as their staple and do not process the maize with alkali end up suffering from a deficiency of niacin (Vitamin B3), which leads to the disease known as pellagra. The disease became endemic to northern Italy with the introduction of maize. And, in fact, the disease was first named in Italy, "pelle agra" meaning rough skin.

Yet, polenta remained a staple in the diet of the poor throughout northern Italy. It was looked down upon by the elite as the food of the masses. And, those who could afford bread made from wheat would hardly consider polenta an edible food.

But, that all changed in the late twentieth century when "foodies" discovered the glorious regional cuisines of northern Italy and made polenta "edible" for the elite. This former food of the poor was adopted by chefs throughout the United States. They fancied it up a bit and began to charge top dollar for the food that had brought pellagra to a continent. Polenta is now the food of the elite. And, many members of my family in Friuli find it quite humorous that polenta is now treated as a very fancy meal in the United States.

The story of polenta is just one example of how the culture of the poor, particularly their foodways, become co-opted by the elite.

And, this is my primary problem with Slow Food USA.

I believe that they are co-opting the foodways of the poor and making them inaccessible to the people who created them.

The Executive Director of Slow Food USA, Anya Fernald, has been quoted as saying that Slow Food USA has "some really fancy dinners and some fancy wines. But we also have pickles and potato chips."

With this single statement, Fernald has exposed her elitism by showing that the food of the poor is not "fancy," but, instead, consists of junk food. She probably made this statement while feasting on a plate of polenta.

But, all kidding aside, you can see the disconnect of this organization in a recent interview with Fernald:

"I can't say this has been an easy process," said Fernald, adding that one of her goals is to take Slow Food USA more mainstream. "We need to go to the red states to people who celebrate traditional values."

So, obviously to Fernald, the "red states" (read poor, conservative, uneducated) have "traditional values" that do not include what this organization stands for. Fernald just doesn't get it. She doesn't understand where her "fancy" food traditions derive nor does she realize that it is just these types of folks with "traditional values" who are actively practicing what Slow Food USA preaches.

It is farmers, such as the Salatin Family of Virginia, who are continuing time honored practices and cultivating change in the food system by being of the people not taking from the people. And, there are many more like Joel Salatin out there. He is just a bit more well known since being featured in Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma. You only need to briefly search LocalHarvest.org to actually see that you are surrounded by "mainstream" Americans actively fighting for the values that Slow Food USA seems to think that they have monopolized.

I do believe that the winds of change are upon us. But, I don't believe that they are coming from Slow Food USA or Slow Food Nation. I think they are coming from people all around this country of every make and model who realize that something is wrong with our food system and our food culture. And, I think that these people united truly make a movement.

It is good that Slow Food USA is getting the word out to their constituency. But, I hope that they realize that they are not the conductors of this train. In fact, they have only gotten aboard at the last station. But, we have a long way to go on this journey so we will take any company that we can get.

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