Slow Movement on the Rise!

Fast and slow are physical attributes. But they are also adjectives that convey societal values. 

The Slow Movement’s roots can be traced back to the original Slow Food movement, which began in the late 1980s in Bra, Italy when a group of young and passionate foodies and social and environmental activists protested the construction of a McDonald’s in their town. They joked, “If there exists a philosophy of fast food, why not promote the idea of slow food?”

In 1989, this vibrant and impassioned group created the manifesto for the international Slow Food movement. In their manifesto, Slow Food voiced a strong opposition against globalization, namely the negative, homogenizing cultural and societal forces and the destructive environmental impacts of large-scale, industrial monoculture farming practices.

Slow Food’s initial goal was (and still remains!) to defend local, regional traditions, gastronomic pleasure, and promote a simpler, slower pace of life. Since its conception, Slow Food has grown and now is present in xx countries around the world.

The idea to slow down has caught on in other areas: Cittaslow (Slow Cities), Slow Money, and Slow Design.

New vocal proponents of Slow have emerged. Geir Berthelsen created a think tank called The World Institute of Slowness and in 1999, articulated a vision for a whole Slow Planet. Carl Honoré‘s 2004 book, In Praise of Slowness, explored how the Slow philosophy could be impressed upon every field of human endeavor and in doing so, coined the phrase Slow Movement.