I still remember when I was first introduced to Slow Food in a Gastronomy lecture, I have to say it wasnt the most memorable lectures I have ever had. Slow Food is an organisation which created the food movement against fast food. Their objectives include educating students and consumers about the risks of fast food, various political programs to preserve family farms, promoting taste education, and mainly preserving local and traditional food products.
After the lecture a member of Slow Food UK gave us a tasting session on various types of meats, cheeses and perry. One of us students raised a question of how the majority of the general public would not be able to afford the high end of the organic food markets since in UK, the key to keep food production authentic and ethical is to have a rich producer, and therefore a hefty price tag on each package.
The man from Slow Food dissapointing said that the general public should eat less but better, using the same amount of money to buy organic food even though you only get half the portion, if you are lucky. To me that was a ridiculous answer, so we should eat less and pay more in order to maintain these objectives, in that case the majority of the country would not get involved in this organisation in any way! More to the point, is it just a lifestyle preference rather than a political food movement we are discussing here?
I didnt have a great start with Slow Food; until one day ?I had the opportunity to work with Slow Food Turda. It was a programme sponsored by my university for a number of students to go to Turda, a small town in Romania, to experience what exactly Slow Food do.
I did not know what to expect, my first impression of Turda was very that the lifestyle is very simple. I was so excited to see the local marketplace on the first day. There was radishes EVERYWHERE; literally every single store there were beautiful radishes in massive bunches with bright pink colours. It was quite amusing, but you understanding straight away that they only sell seasonal produce, which is extremely different to the UK with our water-flavoured tomatoes.
We were planned to go to three villages to give presentations and food tastings to the villagers to educate them in how their products can be sold in other countries without damaging the traditions; as well as legislation and general hygiene information.
WE held our first presentation in a villager's back garden. The owner showed us around the garden and told us how she grows everything herself to support herself and her family. Coming from a very cosmopolitan background, I was so surprised how simple life is in Turda. We cut up local traditional cheeses and commercial pre-packed cheeses, as well as fruit jam for locals to taste the difference, and dressed the table with fresh vegetables and fruits and explained how in countries like UK, consumers crave for fresh produce as such. Not many villagers turned up, but our spirit was still high.
The second village we went to has more locals turned up for the presentation. After the presentation we were invited by the local host for lunch in their garden under the lovely weather. We had some Romanian goulash and home made wine, one of the ladies told me the sausages in the pot of goulash was made by the host family. It was surprising enough to hear that they make sausages out of fresh mince. But I was more surprised by the fact that the mince was from its their own pig! An old lady from the village showed us around, she showed us the hills and told us how the soldiers fought there in the world war; she showed us the meanings of each symbol on all of the cemetries; She took us to the top of the hills to see the views on Turda. Turda was no longer a strange place to us, it has meanings and history everywhere.
The last village we went to was the most special to me. There were a lot more of us on the last day, I wasnt really needed to prepare the presentation therefore I started 'babysitting' the local kids andI was so touched by how friendly they are. I dont speak Romanian and they don't speak English but we managed to communicate and had lots of fun. It was almost unreal to see the amount of animals there are in each household, I have never stood so close to a cow before. It may sound amusing but it was true!
We ate some of the best polenta I have ever tasted, some gorgeous cake and some donuts. These food were so tasty as it is, but we appreciated it even more so because we know its from the gardens of all the family farmers in front of us, and we know they worked hard and are proud of their food. A young Romanian journalist explained to us that the Romanian locals are sceptical about changes because of their political background of being a communist country. People have no faith in improvements, therefore even though they are proud of their food, they may not have the confidence or belief that they can make any changes. We tried to explain with the help of the council and stamina from the villagers, things could improve. But in the back of our heads we could all understand why the villagers would have no faith.
One of the translation ladies took us to see her brother in law, as we were in the car driving on a bumpy road, suddenly she turned and drove onto a hill and carried on driving. I was edament that she was joking, the hill was bare, I mean who lives on a hill with nothing? My jaws literally dropped when we arrived. She told me that those tiny little huts that scattered around the hills are the accomodation for each farmer for half the year in order to pet the animals. The hut was dead simple, so simple I wont even be able to stay for a night. There wasnt even a bed, only a few cloths put together and a bucket of water. On the ceilings there are rails which they put the big blocks of cheeses.
I looked around me and inhaled deeply, it was all green and there were cows and chickens running around, the villagers must have thought I was crazy for being so amazed at the hills but I was speechless at the perfect simplicity.
I am not sure how much I have contributed in this trip, or even given any help at all. But I have learnt so much not just about food, but lifestyle in general, and how simple things could put a smile on people's faces. It made me almost a bit ashamed of our attitude in life, moaning about not having this season's latest fashion or not being able to afford an iPod seem to be so pathetic. These people work for life, but not luxury and yet they are much more satisfied with life than any of us.
If anyone asked me how would the majority of people in UK afford Slow Food products, I would say not everyone can afford it because it costs a lot to maintain the local traditional foods, but if we don't start from there, one day the traditions will be lost, and even the richest person in the world wouldn't be able to buy such local food.
After the lecture a member of Slow Food UK gave us a tasting session on various types of meats, cheeses and perry. One of us students raised a question of how the majority of the general public would not be able to afford the high end of the organic food markets since in UK, the key to keep food production authentic and ethical is to have a rich producer, and therefore a hefty price tag on each package.
The man from Slow Food dissapointing said that the general public should eat less but better, using the same amount of money to buy organic food even though you only get half the portion, if you are lucky. To me that was a ridiculous answer, so we should eat less and pay more in order to maintain these objectives, in that case the majority of the country would not get involved in this organisation in any way! More to the point, is it just a lifestyle preference rather than a political food movement we are discussing here?
I didnt have a great start with Slow Food; until one day ?I had the opportunity to work with Slow Food Turda. It was a programme sponsored by my university for a number of students to go to Turda, a small town in Romania, to experience what exactly Slow Food do.
I did not know what to expect, my first impression of Turda was very that the lifestyle is very simple. I was so excited to see the local marketplace on the first day. There was radishes EVERYWHERE; literally every single store there were beautiful radishes in massive bunches with bright pink colours. It was quite amusing, but you understanding straight away that they only sell seasonal produce, which is extremely different to the UK with our water-flavoured tomatoes.
We were planned to go to three villages to give presentations and food tastings to the villagers to educate them in how their products can be sold in other countries without damaging the traditions; as well as legislation and general hygiene information.
WE held our first presentation in a villager's back garden. The owner showed us around the garden and told us how she grows everything herself to support herself and her family. Coming from a very cosmopolitan background, I was so surprised how simple life is in Turda. We cut up local traditional cheeses and commercial pre-packed cheeses, as well as fruit jam for locals to taste the difference, and dressed the table with fresh vegetables and fruits and explained how in countries like UK, consumers crave for fresh produce as such. Not many villagers turned up, but our spirit was still high.
The second village we went to has more locals turned up for the presentation. After the presentation we were invited by the local host for lunch in their garden under the lovely weather. We had some Romanian goulash and home made wine, one of the ladies told me the sausages in the pot of goulash was made by the host family. It was surprising enough to hear that they make sausages out of fresh mince. But I was more surprised by the fact that the mince was from its their own pig! An old lady from the village showed us around, she showed us the hills and told us how the soldiers fought there in the world war; she showed us the meanings of each symbol on all of the cemetries; She took us to the top of the hills to see the views on Turda. Turda was no longer a strange place to us, it has meanings and history everywhere.
The last village we went to was the most special to me. There were a lot more of us on the last day, I wasnt really needed to prepare the presentation therefore I started 'babysitting' the local kids andI was so touched by how friendly they are. I dont speak Romanian and they don't speak English but we managed to communicate and had lots of fun. It was almost unreal to see the amount of animals there are in each household, I have never stood so close to a cow before. It may sound amusing but it was true!
We ate some of the best polenta I have ever tasted, some gorgeous cake and some donuts. These food were so tasty as it is, but we appreciated it even more so because we know its from the gardens of all the family farmers in front of us, and we know they worked hard and are proud of their food. A young Romanian journalist explained to us that the Romanian locals are sceptical about changes because of their political background of being a communist country. People have no faith in improvements, therefore even though they are proud of their food, they may not have the confidence or belief that they can make any changes. We tried to explain with the help of the council and stamina from the villagers, things could improve. But in the back of our heads we could all understand why the villagers would have no faith.
One of the translation ladies took us to see her brother in law, as we were in the car driving on a bumpy road, suddenly she turned and drove onto a hill and carried on driving. I was edament that she was joking, the hill was bare, I mean who lives on a hill with nothing? My jaws literally dropped when we arrived. She told me that those tiny little huts that scattered around the hills are the accomodation for each farmer for half the year in order to pet the animals. The hut was dead simple, so simple I wont even be able to stay for a night. There wasnt even a bed, only a few cloths put together and a bucket of water. On the ceilings there are rails which they put the big blocks of cheeses.
I looked around me and inhaled deeply, it was all green and there were cows and chickens running around, the villagers must have thought I was crazy for being so amazed at the hills but I was speechless at the perfect simplicity.
I am not sure how much I have contributed in this trip, or even given any help at all. But I have learnt so much not just about food, but lifestyle in general, and how simple things could put a smile on people's faces. It made me almost a bit ashamed of our attitude in life, moaning about not having this season's latest fashion or not being able to afford an iPod seem to be so pathetic. These people work for life, but not luxury and yet they are much more satisfied with life than any of us.
If anyone asked me how would the majority of people in UK afford Slow Food products, I would say not everyone can afford it because it costs a lot to maintain the local traditional foods, but if we don't start from there, one day the traditions will be lost, and even the richest person in the world wouldn't be able to buy such local food.
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