Slow Food: the new Fast Food

Everyday conversation points to the changes occurring due to the recent economic downturn and it seems there is a collective shift in how we think is the result. Budgets, travel plans, careers and even the choices we make in the food we eat are affected. Consideration for different ways of going about daily life are implemented and discussed as the sharing of information spurs even more thought. We all had such prevalent habits before, routines that just became ordinary actions, given little thought.

Slow Food was a term little known during the months and years behind us. Sustainable living not much thought about… and buying local hardly practiced. New ideas are starting to make some sense while our quest to save money and fight disease become more important. It is alarming to note the increasing number of food poisoning incidences and the current news about tainted foods becoming more common. The ultimate control is to grow and prepare our own food. The old habits of fast food for every meal are clearly changing. Are we finally slowing down and thinking more about the effects of our choices?

What could be “faster food” than picking an orange off the tree before rushing out the door? Or grabbing a handful of nuts from a jar, or grabbing a banana out of the fruit bowl? The time it takes to cut some celery or carrots is hardly cause for a major delay and yet it has taken such monumentous circumstances to reevaluate just how we should nourish ourselves. Minds are opening and new ways of going about the ordinary aspects of a given day promise a return to what is wholesome and good.

I am encouraged to notice that taking time for the growing and preparing of food has become the new trend. Victory Gardens flourish and the Farmer’s Markets are buzzing with sales. Slow Food is becoming the new Fast Food!