food series illustrates the virtues of eating well

It was in the mid-1980s that Carlo Petrini walked into a small restaurant in Italy and ordered his favorite meal: a bowl of homemade roasted red pepper soup. After a couple of spoonfuls, however, he noticed that the soup didn’t have the same zing that usually aroused his appetite. Petrini, an established food and wine aficionado, asked the restaurant owners why the soup tasted different. They informed him that they had started importing cheap onions from Holland instead of growing their own.
It was the last straw for Petrini. He had gradually observed an alarming trend of standardization in the food industry, with consumers and purveyors increasingly emphasizing convenience over quality. His concern was punctuated by the opening of the first McDonalds restaurant in Rome around 1986.

“His reaction to that was really pretty negative,” said Slow Food Seacoast member Michelle Moon. “He was disappointed to see this fast food mindset coming in.”
Counteracting this trend was the impetus behind Slow Food International, which Petrini founded in 1989. The nonprofit organization now has more than 80,000 members in 107 countries, with some 850 convivia (or chapters) worldwide. Slow Food USA has about 170 convivia with 15,000 members. The local branch, known as Slow Food Seacoast, has accrued about 70 members since forming in 2006.

Moon gave a presentation on March 5 about Slow Food’s history and mission during the first installment of the SOLE (sustainable, organic, local, ethical) Food Series, at Traip Academy in Kittery. Organized by Kittery Adult Education director Pauli Rines, the seven-part series offers guests an introduction to the food awareness movement that is slowly sweeping across the nation.

In the first session last week, Moon was accompanied by a panel of fellow Slow Food Seacoast members that included food critic Rachel Forrest, Erin Jenkins and Dick and Ursula Bonde. During her opening presentation, Moon explained the Slow Food concept. Slow Food encourages consumption of foods that are good, clean and fair. Elaborating on each of these three criteria, Moon explained that the foods must taste good and bring pleasure to the senses. They also must be produced in a way that respects the environment, as well as the health and welfare of the animals. Finally, they must come from a farm or distributor that compensates its employees fairly and provides good working conditions.

Slow Food chapters promote these ideals by organizing tastings, classes, markets, festivals and other events that expose people to the many benefits of taking their time with food. In addition to educating consumers, Slow Food members help to create a network of producers and co-producers so that they can find healthy markets for their food products.

“We are just getting started developing initiatives for the Seacoast,” Moon said.

The organization also promotes biodiversity, seeking to preserve foods that are at risk of disappearing. The Ark of Taste manual catalogues foods that are endangered, such as Jacob’s Cattle Bean, Algonquian squash and Valencia tomatoes. According to Moon, the trend of standardization has eliminated countless varieties of corn, potatoes, apples and many other foods. Dick Bonde said there was once about 200 different varieties of artichokes in Italy, but, by the mid-’80s, that number had been whittled down to 12.

“Food was being standardized,” Bonde said.

As Moon described the Slow Food mission, a handful of guests snacked on samples from regional food producers. There was bread from the Beach Pea Baking Co. in Kittery, Maine, mild cheddar cheese from Grafton Village in Vermont, goat cheese from Seal Cove Farm in Lamoine, Maine, and lemon artichoke pesto from Terra Cotta Pasta in Dover. These area food producers offer regional alternatives to the fast food market.

But Slow Food isn’t just about counteracting fast food; it’s also about counteracting fast living. The food industry’s emphasis on frozen meals that can be prepared in a few minutes deceives shoppers into believing that they don’t have time for anything else, panelists said. This marketing scheme contributes to the fast and hectic pace of life in western societies.

Forrest questioned what could be so important that people don’t have time to feed themselves in a healthy manner. She said a number of area restaurants have been adhering to Slow Food ideals for decades. “It’s only because of our socialization into this fast, crazy world that we’ve gotten away from that,” she said.

Jenkins said a person’s eating habits extend to almost every facet of daily life. She advised people who eat on the run to think about the broader implications of their poor diets. “You’re really cheating yourself, because it isn’t just one part of your life that can be boxed,” she said.

Dick and Ursula Bonde have taken advantage of retirement to enjoy several fresh and healthy meals every day. They shop through a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) network that connects food buyers with local farmers, and Ursula takes her time cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner. “What CSA has done for us is introduced us to vegetables we never would have used,” she said.

The second session of the SOLE series featured a “Meat Farmer’s Forum” on March 10, with discussion from Jon and Wendy Berry of Lasting Legacy Farm and Robert Gibson and Joseph Marquette of Yellow House Farm, both in Barrington. The farmers described the challenges faced by local meat producing farms and the drastic differences between local farms and major meat conglomerates.

The third session will be held on Wednesday, March 12, and will include discussion from members of Seacoast Eat Local, a grassroots group connecting consumers with local food producers. Session four, on Wednesday, March 19, will feature organic CSA farmer Andy Gagnon and other local growers. Session five, on Wednesday, March 26, will offer cooking techniques from chef-instructor Brain Coffey of McIntosh Atlantic Culinary Academy. Session six, on Wednesday, April 2, will include a discussion about fisheries with Erika Zollett, a UNH PhD student in marine environmental science. The series ends with a free potluck celebration on Wednesday, May 7. 

Sessions begin at 6 p.m. and cost $10 for Kittery residents, $12 for nonresidents, plus materials fees (except the potluck). To register, mail a check to Kittery Adult and Community Education, Kittery School Department, 200 Rogers Road, Kittery, ME, 03904. Make checks out to “Kittery School Department.”

For more information about Slow Food Seacoast and the SOLE Food Series, visit www.slowfoodseacoast.blogspot.com. The Web site includes schedules for upcoming events and a variety of resources. Upcoming events include the CSA Fair at Strawbery Banke’s Museum Visitor’s Center in Portsmouth on Saturday, March 15.