To crawl or To Run?A Discourse on Progress in the Context of Slow Movement

I. The Thought Behind Slow Movement                                                  

In the founder’s own words, slow movement addresses the ‘time poverty’ we face today. It is the compression of time and space in a neoliberal globalized world, such that we all continue to feel the need to be fast. In a world where godspeed is deemed necessary in every aspect from food to work, slow movement emphasizes the need to reorient our belief systems towards a more steady, long lasting and healthy way of living. The focal point of the slow movement is food, but the philosophy goes beyond. The movement argues that the hyper modernization and urbanization that we witness today has brought ‘banality’ to our lives and we’re fast losing touch with our roots. The slow movement’s world view is that of a ‘Locavore’. It promotes regional artisanal practices rooted in a place’s local culture and revives a soul that has been lost in the chasing fast, material habits often of low quality, such as fast food. This movement is of a rejuvenate nature as it talks about going back to traditional methods and organic practices of cultivation and food processing that take time because they’re supposed to. Petrini mentions in his chapter ‘Educating and Learning’, from his book ‘Slow Food: The Case for Taste’[1], that the richness of heritage cuisines is fading today as people squirm through easily available, unhealthy food options owing to the lifestyles we have fallen into as result of seeing life as race with milestones to achieve in a time sensitive fashion. This has brought the world to a crisis stemming from economic push and pull for speed and profit. Globalisation and production on macro level has led to the creation of mega food systems which are unsustainable, unhealthy and put pressure on the planet, yet preferred over organic practices due to everyone’s paucity of time. As the movement suggests, instead of building relationships with food, we merely make transactions. I remember my mother used to often narrate to me how meals were an important part of families back in the day. The preparation of dishes took time, there were separate processes of enriching each and every ingredient that went into the dishes. Some of these recipes had been passed on to the newer generations over years. However, as sad as it is, all of that rich heritage seems to be ending with my mother because my food habits are of the new world. I eat when I can and what I can, much like most younger people. Basically, instead of making choices based on health, flavor and origin, we prioritize convenience. Petrini also mentions the newer forms of diet coming up which, to an extent are also a result of advertisements of products in a way that promises a healthier body but in doing so, we are discarding the existing knowledge of healthy food and habits. The slow movement argues that the food policies we see today as result of ‘speed shackles’ and time poverty’, have disproportionately affect on some sections of the soiety more than others such as the Black community, indigenous people, women and members of the low income community. This leads to situations of conflict between the rich and the poor and ineffective policies as often, the people sitting in high offices, making policies for these affected groups don’t relate to their concerns and their problems (like lack of access to nutritious food, food deserts or unhygienic living conditions) are abstract to them[2]. This further fuels conflicts of land and water, exploitation, classism, gender discrimination and other forms of oppression. Given this complexity of a situation, it is obvious there is no single, one shot solution. However, the slow movement rests its faith in gradual re-orienting of beliefs and changing the attitude towards life itself in order to bring about a significant change. The change will happen by cultivating our relationship with food, with our heritage, with each other; by promoting shared values of liberation and although this change may not happen overnight, it can take years but when it does come, it will be sustainable for food, resources and people.

II. Citta Slow v/s American Exceptionalism

The world we live in today is indisputably the one caught in a chaotic, frenzied spiral of a new addiction. There is a race for more money, power, success and a, faster pace of life. It is almost like an addiction gone out of control. The behaviors exhibited, the dangerous work oriented thinking is an aberration, yet people refuse to slow down and acknowledge that something is perhaps not right because making it there and fast is what constitutes progress in America. One must always keep pushing ahead and there seems to be no speed limits or any fixed destination. It’s an incessant race that has led to the decline and eventual demise of former healthy habits of food and lifestyle in general. Fast at any cost is the mantra of an overworked, distressed American society today that refuses to slow down and reflect because that is seen as losing. We seem to be trapped in a vicious cycle leading to behavioural, mental and physical disorders.

An offshoot of the Slow Movement is Citta Slow which is a way of improving lives in more cities. It was an initiative started by Paolo Saturnini in 1999 that brought many mayors together and even got the support Carlo Petrini, the president of the Slow Movement. Citta Slow takes the message of the Slow movement further into local communities, to the governments of towns and advocates for the concepts of sustainable food and lifestyle. Some places in the USA like Sonoma, Sebastopol and Fairfax have adopted the Citta Slow movement and its philosophy. However, compared to other countries like Korea the USA Citta Slow network is a rathe smaller one. There can be many reasons for this but the one that stands out to me as, perhaps the biggest contributor to not letting the Slow City Movement find ground in the US is the race for The American Dream and the idea of American Exceptionalism. Khalilah L. Brown-Dean notes in her chapter ‘Identity Politics and the Boundaries of Belonging,’ against the backdrop of 2016 presidential elections, notes that the answer to the question of ‘who belongs’ in terms of social, racial and economic affiliations is a factor that shapes group affiliations and is a sign of American Exceptionalism[3] which is the notion that the US was “born modern” and that there is no ancient or medieval legacy or class systems. As discussed in the seminar, this claim to American moral superiority was renewed in the 1980s by neoconservatives. The idea of American Dream, in simple words is in America, anyone, regardless of their identity of race, religion or can achieve success in a society that is forever upward moving. The focus of the American dream is to work hard and make sacrifices to attain success. In a utopian world, this would’ve been the ideal situation but a major problem with American Dream in modern times that Petrini would find is it’s need for super-fast pace.  For instance, in his book, ‘Between the World and Me’ Ta-Nehisi narrates to his son, the perils of being a young black boy in America and the way to overcome these is by knowing and following the rules, and struggling more than everyone else. He writes to his son: “I want you to know: In America, it is traditional to destroy the black body — it is heritage.” This is exactly what the philosophy of the Slow Movement warns against—the need to achieve taking over such that people get entrapped in the same monoculture of competition, the rules for which are laid by corporates and the end result is exhausting oneself to the last breath, while having lost all touch with one’s rich heritage and culture in the process. It is due to these teachings to the next generation, that Wendy Brown vehemently critiques the way neoliberalism has taken over all aspects of human lives, transforming humans into ‘homo-economicus’. Whereas the sacrifices that the American Dream demands, have become those of healthy habits and richness of skills. While Coates sees struggling and doing whatever it takes as the way to progress, Petrini calls for re-orientation of this attitude. While Petrini agrees that people from certain groups in the society such as the black community, the poor and the women have suffered the costs of a fast paced life, it is time to slow down and re-orient the approach to life. The Slow Movement’s epicentre maybe food habits and nutrition, but it goes beyond to address patterns of behaviour in order to bring back the practices humans and the planet once benefitted from. While Coates, in his chapter shows little hope that the Dreamers will wake into consciousness, the Slow Movement says otherwise. The concept of Citta Sow cities is about a bottom to top revamping of the society, changing one city at a time. Besides the energy, environmental and green policies, Citta Slow also requires cities to re-orient their infrastructure policies, quality of urban life issues, agriculture, touristic and artisanal policies and policies for hospitality. In her chapter, Bell Hooks notes how caring and sharing have come to be seen as traits of the weak, leading to the country becoming a class-segregated society where certain sections of the society are often overlooked and forgotten[4]. In this regard, the most important element of the Slow Cities is an emphasis on social cohesion for by focusing on categories of people such as the differently abled, the black community, the poor, minorities, women and LGBTQ community and formulation of policies to prevent discrimination against these. The idea of slow progress is that of partnerships and revisiting our rich past of food and social habits to learn from it and take it further.

 This is where the Slow Movement comes in. It urges people to regain the wisdom of older methods as Petrini mentions in his chapter ‘Educating and Learning’. There is a need to liberate ourselves from the speed that is leading to the road of extinction. Today, in the name of productivity and the homo-economicus effect of neoliberalism in the fast paced life, our lifestyles have changed in a way that poses a threat to our environment, our bodies and our heritage. Slow Food is the alternative. It assures us of a better quality lifestyle. With a snail purposely chosen as its patron and symbol, it is an idea and a way of life that needs much sure but steady support. The Slow progress is a way to defend ourselves against the chaos of a fast life of material pleasure and to those who believe in struggle without brakes and at any cost such as Coates, the slow movements asks to stop and entertain their taste with slow food.

[1] Petrini, Carlo, and William McCuaig. Slow Food: The Case for Taste. Columbia University Press, 2001. https://doi.org/10.7312/petr12844

[2] Verchick, Robert R. M.. "3 Feminist Theory and Environmental Justice". New Perspectives on Environmental Justice: Gender, Sexuality, and Activism, edited by Rachel Stein, Ithaca, NY: Rutgers University Press, 2004, pp. 63-77. https://doi.org/10.36019/9780813542539-006

[3] Khalilah L. Brown-Dean, “Identity Politics and the Boundaries of Belonging,” pp. 1

[4] Hooks, bell. Where We Stand: Class Matters. New York: Routledge, 2000