By now most of us are aware of the threats looming in the food world. The best-selling Fast Food Nation and other recent books have alerted us to such dangers as genetically modified organisms, food-borne diseases, and industrial farming. Now it is time for answers, and Slow Food Nation steps up to the challenge. Here the charismatic leader of the Slow Food movement, Carlo Petrini, outlines many different routes by which we may take back control of our food. The three central principles of the Slow Food plan are these: food must be sustainably produced in ways that are sensitive to the environment, those who produce the food must be fairly treated, and the food must be healthful and delicious. In his travels around the world as ambassador for Slow Food, Petrini has witnessed firsthand the many ways that native peoples are feeding themselves without making use of the harmful methods of the industrial complex. He relates the wisdom to be gleaned from local cultures in such varied places as Mongolia, Chiapas, Sri Lanka, and Puglia. Amidst our crisis, it is critical that Americans look for insight from other cultures around the world and begin to build a new and better way of eating in our communities here.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0
Slow food, slow reading.:
This was slow, slow reading. Lots of technical information which I am just too tired to digest. Maybe something was lost in the translation? I did not even finish this book and have not recommended it to anyone--quite the opposite.
Slow Food Nation: A Socialist Eater's Manifesto:
Let me start off by stating that I agree with the essential concept of this book. I think we should all try to slow down, buy locally grown, fresh, seasonal food and cook a few meals from scratch. However, while reading the book something kept striking me as odd. The wording seemed charged, like a propaganda piece meant to demonize modern agriculture and our fast paced society, though Mr. Petrini repeatedly admits that a return to subsistence agriculture could not possibly support the current world... more info
Slow Food's Petrini continues to evolve:
Carlo Petrini has been attempting to preserve a more traditional view of food for a long time, this book lays out his current thinking in a clear and concise layering of understanding food in culture (gastronomy), understanding quality (good, clean, fair food), and the tools to put these ideas to work in the world going forward.
As we reconstitute a food culture based on transparency and quality in the USA and hopefully across the globe, this book provides key ideas related to respect for diversity of... more info
Marvellous introduction to the Slow Food movement:
More than a reaction to Fast Food's arrival in Italy, Slow Food
has evolved into a global movement encompassing many different actions to improve what we all taste and eat.
It's not about eating well in the privileged, Michelin-starred table sense. It's about recognizing everyone's barriers to eating well and judging the quality of our food on three levels, asking whether it is good, clean and fair. (The book's original title is just that: Buono, pulito e Giusto).
The movement's founder... more info