Slow Food vs. Fast Food

I think it's safe to say that everyone understands what is meant by the terms "fast food".  If you're reading this blog, there's a good chance that you've seen the documentary film Supersize Me.  In the movie, Morgan Spurlock vowed to eat at McDonald's every day for a month and he documented the experience on film.  If you haven't seen the movie, you can watch it on Mr. Spurlock's website via Hulu.  The movie establishes that "fast food" can have some devastating effects for some people when taken to extremes.


So how about the opposite of "fast food"?  Yes - "slow food".


From SlowFoodUSA.org:

Slow Food is an idea, a way of living and a way of eating. It is a global, grassroots movement with thousands of members around the world that links the pleasure of food with a commitment to community and the environment.

It's a movement. It's a state of mind. It's a culture.

The Slow Food USA website has a tool that allows visitors to search for Slow Food events in their own state and city.  I used the tool tonight to find out about a public forum sponsored by a local library to discuss how to eat slow food to improve your own health and improve your family, community, and planet at the same time.

Pretty heavy stuff isn't it?

I grew up in a rural community and the closest drive thru restaurant was 15 miles away.  The closest "brand name" restaurant was 25 miles away.  Besides the distance...eating fast food wasn't a part of my family culture. And why would it be?  In the summer time, we had all the food we wanted to eat growing in the family garden plot.  And in the winter, vegetables and potatoes was as close as the "cellar" where canned vegetables, jellies, and jams were preserved or stored until we wanted to eat them.

The current family culture is very different.  As families have relocated closer to cities for their work, fast food restaurants are as close as the corner shopping center.  Some of them will even deliver their offerings direct to your front door.

It's really a matter of convenience.  With two parents that work and less "space" in the backyard, the family vegetable garden is one of those cultural elements that has declined.  It's inconvenient to have a family garden in 2011.  But as Morgan Spurlock demonstrated in his documentary film and SlowFoodUSA.org promotes via their website, it's vitally important that we begin to move back in that direction.