Slow food : the case for taste /

Slow Food, a group of 75,000 members that supports recognition of traditional foods and eating patterns (e.g., the family meal), is an important player in today's battle for the palates and stomachs of the world. As "The Official Slow Food Manifesto" states, "Slow Food is an idea that needs plenty of qualified supporters," but to find them, it's going to need more friendly material than this didactic screed. Italian journalist Petrini founded the group in 1989, changing the name of a previous organization from Arcigola to Arcigola Slow Food in response to the opening of a McDonald's in Rome's Piazza di Spagna, a development described in excruciating detail. Petrini's condescending tone ("When you see the word `flavorings' on the package, don't imagine that it always refers to natural substances") isn't helped by a clumsy translation that adheres to Italian syntax. It's a shame, because the elitist tone and convoluted language obscure Petrini's informed opinions on genetically modified organisms and nutritional education in the schools (he references mainly Italian public schools). Petrini's case against McDonald's is perhaps his strongest card, but it's geared mainly to an Italian, or at least European, audience (it's doubtful that many American parents comfort themselves with the thought that "when they're old enough the kids will develop a taste for Barolo") and more thorough and better written arguments have already been made, most notably in Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. (July) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Neither a cookbook nor a foodie memoir, Slow Food is nevertheless an important work. Its closest recent companion would be Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation, but instead of further condemning the fast-food industry, this book extols regional food traditions and ingredients and other elements of the slow-food movement. Started in 1989 by Italian food writer Petrini as a reaction to the fast-food lifestyle that was threatening to homogenize Italian culinary traditions, the movement has spread to more than 40 countries. Petrini's book is both a philosophical treatise and a history of the movement all in one slim volume, yet it suffices. Slow Food will help the reader better understand why so many cookbooks and chefs promote local and seasonal produce. Petrini, too, promotes quality, locally produced ingredients in the service of taste, and taste as a key to pleasure. More important, however, he recognizes the cultural and environmental impact of the food heritage that he strives to preserve. Appendixes noting the movement's Italian and international foodstuffs provide an interesting closing note. Recommended for serious culinary collections in public and academic libraries.-Peter Hepburn, Univ. of Illinois at Chicago Lib. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.