Eat Slow Food Not Fast Food

Serve 1 Slow Food Meal Every Week to Family or Friends

30 Days to Green Your Diet - Enjoy slow food as part of a healthy eating plan.

Photo: Slobo Mitic / Istock

By Annie Bell Muzaurieta

30 Days to a Greener Diet - Day 19

The slow food movement promotes pleasure: the simple art of slowing down to enjoy food and the company you’re dining with. But the movement is also concerned with meals consisting of real food that is healthy for you, for the environment, and for the farmer who grew it. Slow food means moving away from bland, homogenous, industrialized food products and toward native, diverse ingredients grown and prepared in a clean and healthy way.

So many of us rely on cheap fast food, which is inevitably laden with preservatives, additives, fat, salt and high-fructose corn syrup. Food that tastes the same whether you’re in New York City, Berlin, or Tokyo. And we eat it at our desks and in our cars.

Slow food advocates say the fast way of life chips away at a community’s cultural identity and food heritage. We no longer care about who is growing our food, how bland it is or how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

Support the movement by planning one slow food meal for a friend or your family this week. Shop at a farmers' market, ask questions about where your food came from or how it was grown and learn about your local food history. If the task of preparing everything yourself is daunting, plan a slow-food potluck, or a slow food cocktail hour (think artisanal cheeses and meats, locally baked breads, regional wines).

These recipes will get your slow food feast started:
Braised Lamb Shanks with Wild Mushroom Pan Sauce
Roasted Ham with Molasses, Bourbon and Pecans
Roast Duck with Dried Apricots and Prunes