Slow food

In modern society, where every hour is rush hour, we eat in our cars, at our desks, on the go or in front of the TV. We purchase at a drive-through, take-out, and delivery service to eat prepared meals. We do this because it fits in our fast society and matches our lifestyle; however, a series of problems occur with eating Fast Food. People are getting less healthy, and they start worrying about this kind of eating habit; therefore, people start to pay attention to another diet concept, which is called Slow Food. Slow Food is a special idea for a certain way of living and eating.

There are three characteristics of Slow Food, which is good, clean and fair, meaning that it is fresh, seasonal and local, is processed in a sustainable and healthy way under good working conditions, and it offers affordable price. In our fast moving society, people are trying to adapt to this kind of Slow Food eating style, which is healthier than Fast Food. But there are still a large number of people who do not want to change their current eating habits, and they believe that Slow Food has a lot of disadvantages and would not be suitable for this fast society.

Although some people oppose Slow Food, I believe that Slow Food is a better way of living and eating, and there are three evidences to support my statement. Opponents of Slow Food claim that, compared to Fast Food, Slow Food, with its natural and seasonal ingredients, is too expensive at the grocery stores, so people cannot afford the price; however, grocery stores are not the only option to buy natural and seasonal organic food.

An independent study of Cambridge Naturals shows that local farmers’ markets are less expensive than grocery stores by an average of 38% on a list that included blueberries, string beans, corn, cucumbers, eggs, peppers, potatoes, string beans and tomatoes and etc. (Jake, par. 9). Thus, seasonal organic food from the farmers’ markets is generally cheaper than conventional food from the supermarket. Furthermore, a student from a University of Massachusetts conducted a small experiment, which has compared the cost of buying a cheeseburger at a local fast food restaurant with the cost of buying the ingredients and cooking one in her kitchen.

The result of this experiment shows that the purchased burger cost about $4 (not including taxes); however, the cost of ingredients for a comparable burger came to about $1 (Nancy, par. 9). As a result, buying ingredients yourself and cooking one cheeseburger at home saved about $3, which is much cheaper than what you would pay in a restaurant. As a result, we can see that farmers’ markets are an affordable alternative for consumers who have an interest in buying seasonal organic food, but are restricted due to high organic prices at grocery stores. Opponents also state that Slow Food is time-consuming.

As people need time to buy ingredients and cook by themselves, they consider that it is a waste of time, which makes them prefer to eat fast food. In fact, Slow Food encourages people sitting down to have meals together, and sharing food with others. When families dine together, they tend to eat more vegetables and fruit instead of fried foods and soda, because the person preparing home cooked meals will take the nutrition of the food into consideration when he or she prepares the food. In addition, young teenagers that frequently eat home cooked food with their families are less likely to be overweight.

Moreover, it is a great way to have home cooked food because you can communicate with your family as well as your friends, and each of the family members can take part in food preparation in order to improve the family relationship; as a result, there is no doubt that Fast Food is faster than Slow Food, but we should take into consideration that home cooked meals are healthier than Fast Food. Furthermore, cooking and eating with families or friends is not wasting your time, but making your time more valuable and meaningful. Therefore, time is not a problem when preparing home made meals.

But, there are some people who oppose Slow Food would say that they can go outside to eat with their families or friends, and they can also communicate with each other; more importantly, they can save a lot of time to prepare the food by themselves. However, we must keep in mind that no matter how good you eat outside, it cannot be compared to what your families or friends make for you, because they prepare the food with care and love, which cannot be measured using time. Thus, Slow Food is not time-consuming because it not only using time to cook food, but also containing love and care of the person who prepare the food.

The final argument by opponents of Slow Food is that Slow Food does not taste good. Most of people like pizza, hamburgers, roast pork, french fries or sweet cookies, because these foods contain a strong taste and a salty, sweet or savory flavor. However, people generally like to eat tasty foods, and Fast Food traditionally contains a lot of salt or sugar because this is a cheap way to make food taste good (“ Enhancing the taste of our food,” par. 1). On the contrary, healthy food normally means using less salt and sugar, so people will have an impression that healthy food does not taste good.

In fact, food that has been cooked in a healthy way tastes better. There is an article talking about Slow Food in the USA, and it says “ Food that is fresh, seasonal and locally grown simply tastes better than processed and packaged fare that can be microwaved or ordered through a clown’s month”(Gary, par. 1). Moreover, according to Gary, “ The taste of delicious food lingers on the palate long after the taste buds have been excited. The flavorful sensations of good food can actually take away your breath, cause you to pause.

Thus, the taste of fresh and delicious food can actually slow down the rate of eating, which in turn allows neural signals of satiety to reach the brain and reduce the amount of food eaten” (par. 3). In contrast, when tasting the fast food, your gustation will be overwhelmed and the sensitive flavors will be blocked by the main flavors of Fast Food, which is sweet and salt. Furthermore, the taste of these flavors will disappear after the food is swallowed, and the neural signal of not satiety reaches the brain and make you keep eating because you need to fulfill your stomach.

Consequently, eating Fast Food tend to make people overeat so that people will be overweight. Thus, Slow Food which is fresh, seasonal and local is healthier and tastes better than Fast Food that is salty and sweet. It should be evident that the arguments against Slow Food are not valid. On the contrary, Slow Food is a better way of living and eating. It is cost efficient to buy fresh, local and organic food in the farmers’ market, and it is a lot healthier to make food at home rather than eating Fast Food outside or prepared food that you bought in the supermarket.

Moreover, preparing home cooked meals with families or friends and sharing food with others can reinforce relationships with your them. Last but not least, Slow Food is fresh, seasonal and local, which taste much better than Fast Food and is healthier for our body. In our society, everything is fast, so it is time to slow down. Therefore, in my opinion, Slow Food is more suitable than Fast Food in our fast society and we should change our eating habits from fast to slow.