From fast food to slow food

Slow Food is defined by three interconnected principles:

1. Good food—Food that is of good quality, flavoursome and healthful
2. Clean food—Food production that is done in a way that it does not harm the environment and is clear of harmful chemicals
3. Fair food—Accessible prices of food for consumers and fair trade for producers.

Terra Madre was an amazing experience to know and feel how we are not alone in wanting change. Parallel sessions with lectures, discussions, film shows kept us busy; we home-stayed with local Turinites. Simultaneously Salon del Gusto was also being held in the same premises so that Terra Madre participants could get a taste of good, clean and fair food and also be able to purchase. Salon del Gusto, another Slow Food project, has become a popular international fair dedicated to artisanal, sustainable food and the small-scale producers that safeguard local traditions and grow high quality products.

The highlight of the Terra Madre event

Amidst music and dance at the finale event, the crowning moment was listening to Carlo Petrini speak with passion about the need for safeguarding our food supplies and the importance of saving biodiversity to save the planet. It is he who has been the heart of the Slow Food movement. He founded it with a group of activists in the 1980s and in his words, ‘Slow Food unites the pleasure of food with responsibility, sustainability and harmony with nature.’ In 2008 The Guardian named Carlo Petrini as one of the 50 people who could save the planet. In 2013 he received the highest UN environmental award, Champions of the Earth. It is an amazing story of what one man can achieve. Carlo Petrini is one of the key people responsible for upholding many important practices that promise us safe food. Many hold him in very high esteem, as do I. It is Slow Food that supported The Farmers’ Market, Mumbai, in its first few years for which we are very grateful. And today we are proud to be part of slow food’s global network of farmers’ markets called The Earth Markets which respects the slow food philosophy. (More details on www.earthmarkets.net and  www.farmersmarket.co.in)

 Some other projects of Slow Food are

1. 10,000 Gardens which creates good, clean, fair food gardens in African schools and communities.
2. Ark of Taste draws attention to delicious foods that are at a risk of extinction. Identifying these foods ensures that they stay in production.
3. Presidia sustains quality, protects unique ecosystems, safeguards native breeds and local plant varieties.
4. Chefs’ Alliance is a network of chefs defending food biodiversity across the world.
5. University of Gastronomic Sciences.

Slow Food represents a global movement involving thousands of projects and over 1,00,000 members in over 160 countries. Over 1500 Convivia [Slow Food chapters] exist all over the world and India is just beginning to have a few. It is very simple to become a member. Log onto www.slowfood.com to know more.

Why the need for Slow Food

Slow Food is a watch dog for us as far as our food history goes. Every consumer cannot be expected to know details of what goes into his food. And even though we may take the time to read labels, we all, in our hearts, want to believe that what is available is good for our body, mind and soul. Organisations like Slow Food assist us in ensuring this. For instance one of Slow Food’s projects is “Say NO to powdered milk in cheese” which we may not even be aware of. Similarly there is “Save the Bees”, “No GMO”, “Save Seeds” and many other projects demanding that we safeguard our food chain for ourselves and our future. Slow Food celebrates food and demands that it remains delicious as it is meant to be.

Slow Food recognises the strong connections between the plate, planet, people, politics and culture. Our lives are interconnected with the life of the planet we live on. For too long we have relied on businesses to give us our daily bread without questioning its impact on our health or on that of the earth or on that of the farmer who produces the raw material or his agricultural wisdom that will be lost to us if we are unable to attract his children to the field. If we do not do something quick, our inheritance and traditions will be forever lost and we will have no food on our plates and certainly no food that is nourishing. For too long profit has overtaken ethics. We need to understand the urgent need to go back to our roots and the wisdom of food sanity that is essential to feed the world in a wholesome way.

Slow Food in daily life

Living with full awareness of how our food choices affect the lives of our children is what Slow Food is all about. So, in real terms, what is a Slow Food way of eating and what are its benefits? Being conscious of what one consumes, buying as local as possible [eat the Indian millets as opposed to quinoa, eat sabza seeds instead of chia], seeking out small producers [artisans if you please], knowing the company or people one buys from [at least some research to know the motive behind the company], choosing variety of traditional foods, opting for organic, cooking slowly and eating slowly are some of the ways of ensuring that all is not lost on the food front.

Slow Food began to counteract the influx of Fast Food in our lives. So if we want to taste life in its fullness, we need to slow down to savour it before it is too late.

I have been saying since over three decades, eat according to your taste buds but choose the organic versions of whatever it is you decide to favour [hoping, at least, it isn’t going to be a bunch of refined foods!]. Slow food is saying the same thing, choose whatever, no restrictions, just buy local, buy fair, buy good, buy clean, buy small, buy traditional, buy variety, use some intelligence. This will ensure good life for all and for the future too. So the benefit of understanding the slow food philosophy goes beyond just personal health benefit, it also takes care of the earth in which we reside and all its guardians. Not asking for much, just some common sense.

* Slow Food is a global NGO that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet.

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When you eat in a mechanical way, not only do you enjoy it less, but your body is unable to extract the optimum amount of nutrition from the food, leading to problems such as indigestion, flatulence and bloating. Mindless eating also makes you vulnerable to overeating and weight gain. If you care about your health, you ought to stop eating unconsciously and learn the art of mindful eating today.

What is mindful eating?

Mindful eating is not a diet. There are no menus or recipes for it, nor does it cut out any foods from your diet.

Mindful eating simply means being aware of what you eat. It involves centering your attention on food in a non-judgemental way. When you are eating mindfully, you enjoy your food, savour it and also feel more in control. It’s the polar opposite of bingeing which is the ultimate example of mindless eating.

Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. Store food mindfully

If you can see it, you are more likely to want to eat it, even if you aren’t hungry. You may not have been craving donuts until you pass them in the lunchroom. Then, you can’t get them off your mind. Strategically placing food falls in line with the “out of sight, out of mind” principle.

In a 2006 study, researchers from Cornell University examined how many pieces of candy office workers ate when a candy dish was nearby. They found that people ate more candies when they were visible and easily accessible. Convenience leads to mindless munching and grazing. The opposite is true as well: You are more likely to eat healthy foods if they are placed within your easy reach. Keep healthy food handy instead—a fruit bowl on the kitchen counter, or a healthy snack such as nuts in your purse or bag. When you don’t have healthy food handy, you are tempted to eat anything, even if it’s unhealthy.

2. Avoid multitasking

When you eat, just eat. It’s tempting to eat while you work, talk on the phone or answer an e-mail. But according to research, multitasking can actually interfere with mindful eating, or eating enough to satisfy your hunger without going overboard.

A 2001 study by French researchers, France Bellisle and Anne-Marie Dalix, found that women who were distracted by a task versus those who just focused on their meal ate 15 per cent more [72 additional calories] and enjoyed their food less. It’s better to eat for a short amount of focused time than to do two things while you eat. So during the few moments that you eat, put down whatever else you are doing and focus on your snack.

3. Have TV-less dinners

This cannot be overemphasised! It’s tempting to turn on the TV while you eat. But, studies show that this leads to mindless eating. TV commercials stimulate hunger, and your attention is focused on the TV show and not on your food. Also, watching news or anything stressful such as action movies interferes with your digestion, causing various health issues.

4. Always sit down to eat

We often eat standing over a counter, nibble at something while walking or munching as we make dinner, never realising how much we eat. When you sit down, you tend to focus on it and pay much more attention to how much food you eat. So, sit and real whenever you eat.

5. Leave evidence

Leave a trail. Keep the candy bar wrapper on your desk. Don’t throw away the baggie once you are finished with the bag of pretzels. Keeping physical evidence or reminders helps you to be more mindful of what you eat.

6. Take mindful bites

Make each bite a mindful bite. Think of your mouth as being a magnifying glass, zooming in. Imagine that each bite is magnified a 100 times. Pay close attention to all your senses, use your tongue to feel the texture, gauge the temperature and take a whiff of the aroma. Ask yourself, “How does it really taste? What does it feel like in my mouth? Is this something I really want? Does it satisfy my taste buds? Is my mind truly present when I take a bite so that I experience it fully?”

7. Follow the ‘like it, love it’ principle

When people begin to be more mindful of what they eat, they are able to distinguish between foods they really love and enjoy, and the food that is mediocre. This helps them to cut out the foods they don’t really like. Mindful eaters don’t deliberately stay off food to lose weight, like in dieting. They just becoming choosy about what they feel is worth their time to eat, thus improving their eating experience.

8. Pay attention when you shop

Mindful eating begins with mindful shopping. If you’ve just started mindful eating, here’s a fun exercise to do. Take an old grocery receipt and circle all the items that were impulse buys and/or contributed to your mindless eating. This should help you to gauge some of your vulnerabilities at the grocery store. Many people race through the store trying to the get the task done. Instead, schedule a time when you can leisurely stroll through the store and investigate new products. For some, making a list prior to shopping helps them be more aware of the foods they ‘need’ versus the foods they ‘want’.

9. Buy the highest quality of food you can

Chocolate is a great example. Consider how you approach a cheap bag of bulk candy versus an expensive bar of high quality bar of chocolate. Many people savour an expensive bar and can make it last a week. In contrast, it is easy to munch mindlessly on inexpensive chocolate kisses. The cost of food matters—it makes us much more conscious of what we eat.

10. Soothe yourself without food

Your refrigerator is a lousy source of comfort. Using food to soothe ourselves is like taking an aspirin for a broken arm. If stress drives you to munching, it’s time you considered mindfulness as a stress-buster.

Last updated on 11^th September 2019

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