We’re now so accustomed to the concept of fast food and all it stands for that we feel nothing can be done to challenge it. But for 20 years a group of like-minded people have been resisting the global industrialization of food in a determined rear-guard action that now has a presence in 132 countries.
The Slow Food movement was established in 1986 in Italy to protest the opening of the first McDonalds outlet in Rome. Italians were incensed; fast food was the antithesis of their cuisine and their culture. The movement gained momentum around Europe and the Slow Food Manifesto was signed in Paris in 1989. Groups sprang up around the world to defend and celebrate their traditional foods. Today, over 100,000 people belong to the Slow Food movement in groups called Convivia. Slow Food Ubud, the world’s newest Slow Food Convivium, was registered in Italy last month.
Everyone knows that good food takes time -- to plan, shop for, prepare and cook -- and that the freshest ingredients are those which are locally produced and in season. As our food options become more limited because of the global industrialization of food, the Slow Food Movement is gathering momentum. It has several programs that provide education and protect biodiversity. Convivia are encouraged to hold dinners, farm visits, festivals and other events to involve local communities and their food producers. Workshops and other activities in the developing world help farmers understand the issues. The Slow Fish Movement addresses sustainable fisheries. In 2004, Slow Food started the Terra Madre World Meeting of Food Communities in Turin. This is a forum for all those who grow, raise, catch, create, distribute and promote food in ways that respect the environment, defend human dignity and protect the health of consumers. It takes place every two years and Pak Adi Kharisma, a self-taught Balinese nutritionist and sustainable food activist, has been invited to attend twice as Indonesia’s representative. It was he who encouraged me to set up a convivium in Bali.
December 10 was Terra Madre (Mother Earth) Day, celebrated by Slow Food Convivia around the world. In France, a group organized organic, locally grown meals in school cafeterias. In Uganda, members tracked down traditional fruits and vegetables that are now rarely seen, bringing them together for tasting, and pledging to save the seeds and start growing them again. In Bangladesh there was a rally of people exercising their rights for culturally appropriate and healthy food options. In Mexico, farmers and their families gathered in local churches for traditional and religious rituals, placing seeds at the four cardinal points of the alter as an offering to Mother Earth and praying for good harvests. In Germany, food producers united in their resistance to genetically-modified organisms with a long-table vegetarian meal highlighting the need to eat less meat in order to move towards true sustainability. And in Italy, guests at the Slow Food Zero Kilometre dinner reached the venue by non-polluting transport such as walking, cycling or horseback.
Convivium means a feast or banquet. In Iceland, they ate reindeer last week to celebrate Slow Food’s 20th anniversary. In Australia, it was lamb sausages. In Romania, bread and salt. In Peru, 30 kinds of potatoes. In Ubud we launched our new Convivium with a feast of fresh pork, fish, vegetables and rice -- vibrantly fresh food that’s been produced within about 50 kilometres and prepared by some of Ubud’s most dedicated chefs and foodies. Over 60 people joined us under the Slow Food banner at Linda Garland’s estate, itself an icon of sustainability. The launch dinner featured drinks and dishes prepared by some of Ubud’s most popular restaurants, with almost all ingredients sourced in Bali. The menu included goat satay and tuna tartare canapés, anise-scented pork, tea-smoked gindara fish cakes, heritage rice, a variety of artfully prepared vegetables and salads, hand-made chocolates and sweet potato frozen dessert. Linda generously offered her estate for the event, and the feast was sponsored by Ary’s Warung, Bali Buddha, Bali Good Food Catering, Big Tree Farms, Casa Luna, Como Shambala Estate, Kue, Maya Ubud and Sari Organic. Many of the sponsors are also Slow Food members.
Our Convivium is interested in making food more personal -- in connecting the grower with the consumer, in preserving artisanal food traditions, in helping develop food products that promote Bali, in promoting a more local diet and in nutritional education. Of course, Bali is unique in terms of food, because so much of what is produced here was introduced from elsewhere including chillies, tomatoes, peanuts, soybeans, corn, avocadoes and many of the other fruits and vegetables now grown. Our mission is to protect, preserve and promote Bali’s food products, especially those which are integral to the culinary heritage of Bali and surrounding islands. One of our goals is to educate both local and visiting consumers about the benefits of traditional products versus conventional or mass-produced alternatives.
Although each Convivium has different fish to fry, so to speak, members of the Slow Food movement share a basic philosophy. We resist fast food and all it stands for: the industrialization of animal production for meat, processed foods, chemically or genetically enhanced growing techniques, excessive transportation, loss of biodiversity and the disappearance of sustainable, traditional cuisine.
What does this mean? Let’s look briefly at some of the issues Slow Food is engaging and in their international and local contexts.
The industrialization of animal production for meat usually takes place on intensively managed factory farms called CAFOs or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. The animals are selected for rapid growth, the ability to withstand severe confinement and resistance to the pathogens that occur in such confinement. In a chicken CAFO, a room of 6 x 8 feet houses over 1,100 chickens. Commonly, the beaks are cut off to prevent the birds from pecking each other in this stressful environment. Cows are packed too tightly to move in CAFO operations, belly deep in their own manure, fed a diet of corn and soy meal (which their bodies are not designed to digest) and loaded with growth hormones and antibiotics. In Bali the situation is slightly better – the chickens are not so tightly crowded and the cows, although confined, are tied up outdoors and fed grass. The commercially raised pigs and chickens here are usually fed hormones to hasten growth.
Processing means changing the nature of food into another form, usually to give it a longer shelf life. Most of the nutrients and fibre of fresh foods are lost when it becomes processed. In many parts of the world, urban populations consume more processed food than fresh, leading to steep increases in the incidence of diabetes, heart disease and other illnesses. Until a generation ago, almost all of the food available in Bali was fresh. Now the Balinese consume more noodles, bread, cakes and packaged snacks and many fewer vegetables. Diabetes is on the rise.
Chemically/genetically enhanced growing techniques are the result of the intense industrialization of agriculture over the past century. Arguments aside about whether chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides are really necessary to grow enough food to feed the world, it’s worth noting that six companies in the world now control 98% of the world’s seed sales. Their prime motive is profit, and this is earned by manipulating seed so that the crops are dependent on their other products (chemical fertilizers and pesticides). All their seeds are infertile, so farmers are forced to buy more each season instead of saving them from their own crops. Here in Bali, there are several groups of people encouraging Balinese farmers to grow old varieties of rice and open-pollinated vegetables, not just for foreigners but for their own consumption. Slow Food says that the only type of agriculture that can offer development prospects, especially for the poorest regions of the world, is one based on the wisdom of local communities in harmony with the ecosystems that surround them.
In North America, most food items travel between 1500 and 2000 kilometres from farm to retail outlet. Norwegian potatoes are trucked to Italy to be washed and bagged, then trucked back to Norway for sale. Crab caught in the southern US is flown to China for cleaning and packaging. That’s an insanely large carbon footprint for a crab. Here in Bali, nothing has to travel further than about 50 kilometres.
These days, North American consumers are offered less than one percent of the vegetable varieties grown 100 years ago. Thousands of varieties and even species have been lost or survive only in backyard gardens. In Peru, Andean farmers once grew 4,000 kinds of potatoes. Now they grow a few dozen at most. Until recently Indian farmers grew many oil plants including sesame, linseed and mustard. In 1998, all the small village mills processing these oils were ordered closed and a ban on imported GMO soy oil was lifted. Ten million farmers lost their living and thousands have committed suicide. According to one crop ecologist, humans have eaten about 80,000 plant species during their history. Now 75% of human food comes from just 8 species. Many species of farm animal have likewise disappeared. In Bali, the introduction of hybrid rice pushed the many varieties of more nutritious indigenous rice out of the fields, but some have survived in remote parts of the island and are now being planted again. The Bali cow and pig are now receiving protection from the Department of Agriculture.
It’s no coincidence that people who came together to establish the Slow Food Ubud Convivium already knew each other. They are chefs, restaurant owners, food producers, foodies – all committed to sustainability. We care profoundly about the quality and sustainability of the food we eat and the welfare of the people who produce it. We want people who live in and travel to Bali to realize what an abundance of good food, both indigenous and introduced, is produced here. And we want to help keep some of the old culinary traditions alive, along with the ingredients needed to prepare them.
“Bringing Slow Food to Bali is an effort to move closer to this island’s ultimate potential as a true model of nature and man in harmony,” says member Ben Ripple, co-founder of Big Tree Farms and Island Organics. “The vision of Slow Food and the legacy of historic Balinese subsistence farming are perfectly suited to each other in ideals and community education that Slow Food Ubud inspires through its programs. The Convivium will offer support to restore and strengthen many aspects of Bali’s unique artisan food culture.”
The Convivium will hold at least three events a year including workshops, tastings, visits to artisanal food producers, cooking classes, focus events and food festivals. Through its activities, the Convivium aims to connect the grower with the consumer, preserve artisanal food traditions, help develop food products that promote Bali and encourage sustainable agriculture. Our next planned event, ‘Slow and Sweet’, will celebrate traditional Balinese desserts and contemporary desserts made from local ingredients.
To learn more about the Slow Food movement, visit www.slowfood.com. And if you care about your food and where it comes from, join our Convivium on the website.
Dragons in the Bath, a collection of Ibu Kat’s stories, is available in Bali from Dijon in Kuta, Ganesha Books at Biku in Seminyak and Ganesaha Books and selected shops in Ubud. It can be ordered nationally and internationally through www.dragonsinthebath.com <http://www.dragonsinthebath.com>
