slow movement

Carlo Petrini: Slow Food Founder Leaves a Legacy for All

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Lilacs on a dinner table

Carlo Petrini, founder of the Slow Food Movement, passed away recently on May 21st. He led the global conversation regarding how to make food good, clean, and fair for all. He was one of the first to recognize that fast food culture was the antithesis of those values, and he worked to educate others of the problems inherent in the glorification of speed and the policies that support it, as well as elevate those that use sustainable and traditional practices. His work lives on in the Slow Foods Movement, Terra Madre, and the University of Gastronomic Sciences, and through all the lives touched by his clear, visionary mind and his heart for sharing his forward-thinking astuteness. 

With Bread

In speaking about Carlo Petrini, another Slow Foods and slow living advocate, Carl Honoré, praised him as a wonderful companion in a BBC interview. Honoré explained that the word ‘companion’ comes from the Latin words, com, meaning ‘with’, and panis, meaning bread, and originally referred to breaking bread with someone. Nothing delights me more than a satisfying etymology, and this one is my new favorite!

Freshly baked sourdough einkorn bread
Freshly baked sourdough einkorn bread

There’s a reason food is central to our gatherings and celebrations, sharing that moment with others creates a bond that is unlike any other and speaks to something deep within us. We have the choice to slow down with people in our lives every day and resist the culture of speed with its thin values. After all, where do we end up by speeding through life? Most of us are aiming for longevity, not brevity. 

Slow Values

Since the Slow Food Movement began, there have been many offshoots, some directly connected to the original movement, such as, slow wine, slow fish, slow food editore, and others that have arisen through inspiration, such as slow living, slow travel, and slow flowers. The word ‘slow’ implies depth, understanding, and authenticity, in a quickening world that relies on superficiality and illusions. The Slow Foods Movement is mourning its founder, but it’s stronger than ever and certainly more necessary. Where do you want more slowness in your life? I hope you find it and better yet, I hope you create it.

Australian shepherd walking along a path
Slow walk with my dog

Bon appétit, lovely companions💜

The Slow Movement in a Quickening World

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spring field

Here we go again. The world is opening up and I for one can feel the frenzy building. I’ve heard and read that many people are as anxious about returning to the modern lifestyle of the ‘before times’ as they were about the unexpected mandatory pause. I feel like this is prime time to truly evaluate what works for us, each of us, and take steps to create the life that feels right to us. The pace, the connections, the responsibilities…if we don’t decide for ourselves how many plates we can spin, then others will decide for us.

For those experiencing anxiety related to the state of the world and all of its turbulence and unknowns (who isn’t??) then I hope you add some herbal additions to your daily life might help. Adaptogens and nervines specifically are the herbal categories to consider. Adaptogens help the body to adapt to stress of all sorts and nervines work on balancing our nervous systems. I’ve linked to places where I’ve written about both, but if you use the search bar you’ll find more articles addressing these two categories of herbs and also other natural anxiety relieving options such as GABA, CBD, and L-theanine.

But I think we need to remember to think holistically about where extra stress and anxiety build and flourish in our lives. We can take all the herbs and spray all the essential oils, but if our life is out of whack on a daily basis, it’s like putting a band aide on a gushing wound. Those natural aides might help you adapt to a pace of life that is uncomfortable, but it’s still an uncomfortable pace of life. It’s worth thinking about how to adapt your life to you. We can’t all spend every moment doing exactly what feels right to us in that moment, but we can make it a priority to move our lives in that direction so we can feel in charge of our lives instead of stuck in reaction mode.

This brings me to the Slow Movement which came out of Slow Foods. If you are not aware of Slow Foods, it is an international organization that promotes good, clean, and fair food for all people and the planet. It was named as a reaction to fast food and has grown into a multidimensional organization with themes including slow wine, slow meat, slow cheese, and promotes food fairness awareness from seed to plate. One of my favorite projects of theirs involves school gardens and they just are an organization I greatly admire. Just check out the website and join a local chapter if you feel moved to do so. The Slow Movement takes these concepts of good, clean, and fair, and extends them beyond food to encompass all areas of life. This is not an organization to join, it’s more of a philosophy to employ, which is why I linked to the Wikipedia page instead of an official page. This concept really resonates with me. I love the idea of quality over quantity and doing things better instead of faster. Our world keeps speeding up, and since the invention of the printing press, there’s been collective unease about technological advances outpacing human ability to adapt. Below is an interesting less than 10 minute Ted Talk that gives more insight into this.

If this resonates for you, I hope you act on it.