Eat Less, Eat Better, Eat All.

today we met Carlo Petrini, on Italian time of course, who is the founder of the Slow Food Movement and also the founder of the University of Gastronomic Sciences.It was an honor to meet him, and he came in and shook every single one of our hands, looked us in the eye and said Ciao. he doesn't speak english, so we had a translator who spoke into our headphones, but you could still see his expressive italian gestures at the front of the classroom a few seconds ahead of what we were hearing. i thought what he had to

say was very interesting and i have a ton of respect for him, so i will re-write some of my notes in the following:

gastronomy is not just cooking, techniques and recipes portrayed on tv - that type of food in media is what he calls gastronomic pornography. gastronomy encompasses science and humanities, and we have to look at it and understand it at every complex interdisciplinary aspect (anthrophologically, historically, sociologically, economically, technologically). agriculture, biodiversity, weather, landscape, and metabolism are all taken into account when we try to understand food as well as try to explain the dynamics and systemics of the consumption mode. this year is not about culinary school: i most likely won't be opening a restaurant when i come back like some people think this is why i'm here - that is if i come back :o)

the breath of life should be in harmony with the breath of nature.

the planetary crisis we are living in is financial, environmental and energy based. we focus ("fuckus" in an italian pronounciation...) on the price of food rather than it's value and think of it as just a commodity. our interest in hyperproductiveness makes more food then there are people in the world to eat it, yet so many people are still starving. the intense animal farming and production due to the demand of food also causes a loss of biodiversity and losing species is just like losing a bit of history for generations to come. did you know that a cattle farm create more C02 pollution than a city?

do you ever wonder why we are here on earth? what is the point of working until you have earned enough to retire then you are too old to enjoy it and have wasted your youth on working? to create a synco-relationship of work + leisure and to look for the meaning of life doesn't necessarily mean work less, but to like what you do. we deserve to have the right to pleasure - and it should be everyone's right. when the Slow Food movement started in 1989, they believed good food should be available for everyone to choose, not just for the rich.

it's interesting how much more expensive cheap food is if you take into account the total cost: on the environment, the packaging, the CO2 emissions, the transportation, and the medical health bills due to obesity, diabetes, heart disease etc. good food can be cheaper and healthier if you take into account 6 principles:

1. local agriculture and local production - global transportation is pricey
2. seasonality - healthier, tastier, local
3. decrease consumption - don't buy 3 for 2 deals, don't have full shopping carts, use more wisdom
4. fight against waste - don't buy what you will throw away (calls the refrigerator a family grave b/c half will be thrown into the garbage which is comparable to throwing away your relationship with nature)
5. cook leftovers - some italian dishes are made with leftovers: ribollita with day-old bread, his favorite of his grandmother's was stuffed pasta (but ummm why don't italians believe in doggy bags?? they looked like we had 3 heads the other day, but hey, we enjoyed our dinner the next night immensely..)
6. eat less - costs for gyms, personal trainers - should learn to be your own...inside laugh

another holistic approach to food is the basis of Terra Madre (the most important Slow Food network, which we are attending in October!!) which is principle and concept of reciprocity. we all live on mother earth together, and should live for freedom, equality and fraternity. there have been wars over freedom and equality, but not fraternity, which is important to have to even enjoy the others so that we understand and respect each other. the concept of reciprocity is not an equivalent exchange (producer/consumer, what the economic market is based on) nor is it philanthropic (purely altruistic, like non-profits) but it is a gratuitous gift with an expectation attached. if i give you something for free, then you offer what you can even if its not an equivalent value. philanthropy shows that i'm strong and you're weak because of what i can afford and you will benefit from my power, but reciprocity generates new energy to be passed along. when applying this concept to the world of food, don't think of it as a political theory, but a fundamental approach to food where we can create a tangible, concrete utopia that exchanges wisdom and knowledge that can change the food process. if we sow utopia, we will harvest reality.