Slow Food/Fast Food Katie Shepherd Indiana University 3 December 2007

What do you think of with the phrase Slow Food vs. Fast Food?

The “Slow Food” Movement Slow Food International, founded in 1989 by Carlo Petrini Supports: – Food that is prepared in an environmentally friendly way – Food that supports our health – Fair compensation for the labor of food producers

Slow Food vs. Fast Food Slow Locally grown, seasonal, organic Avoiding wasting oil unnecessarily in the transport and preparation of food Fast Convenience items, excessive packaging Using practices which aren’t environmentally sustainable

Heirlooms vs. Hybrids Heirlooms are varieties of plants that are open- pollinated vs. hybrid varieties which produce only once Hybrid plants are hearty and disease resistant, but since they can’t reproduce, seeds need to be re-purchased year to year Heirlooms participate in natural selection to achieve plants with best characteristics Due to hybridization, we have fewer varieties of plants that are widely grown

17% of nation’s energy use is spent on agriculture. This includes: Running farm equipment Synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides Transporting food (Buy Local, Eat Seasonal) If every household consumed 1 meal per week that was locally grown, we’d save 1 million barrels of oil weekly Source: Hopp, S. (2007) Animal Vegetable Miracle,

Turkeys!! 99% of turkeys consumed are the Broad Breasted White, a breed that has been bred to be unable to fly, mate, or walk when mature Won’t live to be >1yoa because they are too obese for their legs to support them Sperm must be extracted from live male turkeys to artificially introduce in hens

Turkeys!! Benefits of Free Range Meat: Better Cleanliness– when animals aren’t cooped together in a tight space, waste management and bacterial diseases aren’t as great of concern Better Health– confined animals are stressed and given antibiotics to defend against disease; however many bacteria become disease resistant

Economics & Nutrition FAST: Stouffers Roasted chicken Breast w/ green beans Mashed Potatoes, and gravy 390 Calories 13 g Fat 3.5 g Sat. Fat 21 g Protein 1290 mg Sodium $4.05 per serving SLOW: Roasted Free Range chicken breast w/out skin green beans, mashed potatoes, and gravy 420 Calories 9 g Fat 3 g Sat. Fat 22 g Protein 675 mg Sodium $3.35 per serving

Slow Food way of thinking… As dietetics students, we all think about “eating healthfully.” Let’s try to expand on that: Eat seasonally! (use farmers markets and avoid buying out of season foods that used a lot of energy to get to us) Consider learning more about where your food comes from and the methods and products that were used in creating it

For more information: Visit Slow Food International Some reading: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle By: Barbara Kingsolver Slow Food: The Case for Taste By: Carlo Petrini