Slow Food USA is challenging us all to “Take Back the Value Meal” by getting together with family, friends and neighbors to cook a slow food meal that costs no more than $5 per person. On September 17, Slow Food USA members all over the U.S. will be cooking good food on the cheap, either as individuals or at hosted meals (see the website to register for a meet up near you).
The point of the exercise is to remind people that good cooking doesn’t have to be expensive. They are encouraging everyone to learn how to make healthy, fresh food on a budget, or to share that know-how with others. Sounds like a great idea to me.
If you are not familiar with Slow Food, it is a worth while exercise to brows their website. The Slow Food movement, which started in Italy and is now represented around the world, is about promoting appreciation of good food and good food production practices through the enjoyment of the table. The refreshing part about the group is that they are not at all militant…they are not against anything per say, as much as they are for influencing the quality of the food we eat through education and cooking and eating well. They are generally not out protesting, but shopping at the farmer’s market or at home cooking up something tasty.
Slow Food Seattle is always organizing interesting and informative events as well, like a screening of the film “The Vanishing of the Bees” that attended recently. And if you would like a clear statment of the philosophy of Slow Food, I would recommend the book “Slow Food; The Case for Taste” by Carlo Petrini. A good read.