Gaining momentum

Started in Rome about 25 years ago as a reaction to fast food, and nutrition and food safety concerns, the Slow Food movement has made its way to Central Florida, and its popularity continues to grow.

"It's everywhere, in every nook and cranny, from large conventional farms transitioning to small backyard market gardeners joining the movement," said Richard Tyson, Orange County Extension director.

"The purpose of this movement is to re-energize local food systems, which have been decimated by cheap imports and large farms."

Just what is the Slow Food movement? According to Tyson, it started in response to McDonald's opening a restaurant in Rome's historic downtown. The international movement was founded by Carlo Petrini in 1986.

Promoted as an alternative to fast food, it strives to preserve traditional and regional cuisine and encourages farming of plants, seeds and livestock characteristic of the local ecosystem.

Goals include sustaining seed banks to preserve heirloom fruit and vegetable varieties, promoting organic farming, opposing pesticides and genetic engineering, and practicing ethical buying methods in local marketplaces.

"The Slow Food movement is basically a rebellion against fast food," said Matthew Lollar, commercial horticulture extension agent for the University of Florida/IFAS Seminole County.

"The movement promotes cooking and/or eating food that is harvested locally by local growers or by the consumers themselves."

Since 1986, the movement has expanded to more than 100,000 followers in 150 countries.

As of 2011, Slow Food USA has a membership of roughly 25,000 and more than 250,000 supporters, and is the second largest slow food association in the world, with 225 chapters. These are locally based organizations that hold events and education outreach programs that benefit their communities while carrying out the message of Slow Food and advancing the local environmental movement.

"The Slow Food movement in Central Florida grows bigger every day, especially with smart legislation such as the Cottage Foods Act," Lollar said.

That legislation, enacted by the 2011 Florida Legislature, allows individuals to manufacture, sell and store certain types of "cottage food" products in an unlicensed home kitchen. These products include breads, cakes, cookies, candies, jams, jellies and fruit pies.

Gross sales for a cottage food operation must not exceed $15,000 annually, and products must be sold directly by the cottage food operator to the consumer. Sales by Internet, mail order, consignment or at wholesale are prohibited.

"The Slow Food movement will continue to gain popularity as consumers become more and more aware of the health benefits of locally produced agricultural products and the benefit to the local economy," Lollar said.

The reasons for the Slow Food movement's growth are myriad.

"Food safety issues are a big concern," Tyson said. "When the food is grown in your backyard, it feels safer than when grown far away, especially foreign imports with many hands handling them before they reach your table.

"Boosting local economies instead of sending money overseas is another reason. It keeps food dollars local, supports local farms and farm families, and re-energizes local economies."

"All local producers are in favor of this philosophy," Lollar said.

One such grower is Heart of Christmas Farms in Fort Christmas, which offers fruit and vegetables hydroponically grown to organic standards in vertical stacks.

Each stack consists of five to seven pots, and each pot holds two to four plants, grown in a mixture of coconut fiber and perlite, a volcanic glass that has a relatively high water content, or in some cases just nutrient water. Plants are fed organic nutrients via miles of PVC pipes and emitter tubes.

Products include strawberries, tomatoes, greens, herbs, peppers, lettuce, squash, sprouts, micro-greens, edible flowers, radishes and spinach.

Another Slow Food practitioner is Sundew Gardens. An example of community-supported agriculture, Sundew has been located in Oviedo since 1983 on five acres of Florida pine scrub in Seminole County, near the University of Central Florida.

Products include vegetables, fruit, herbs and chicken eggs, which are sold through a membership U-pick program called Harvest Gardening and through the Homegrown Co-op, an online farmers' market.

In addition to growing crops, Sundew also offers an "Intro to Sundew Gardening" workshop several times a year. Topics range from raising chickens for eggs to permaculture on a Florida homestead, greenhouse projects and starting transplants.

"I am a card-carrying member of Slow Food USA," said farm owner Tom Carey. "To me, Slow Food means the idea of a community-based economy generating quality over quantity.

At the same time, a sustainable, conscious effort is made in the direction of using organic and natural farming methods, small businesses in local markets and personal interaction all through the supply chain, from farm to dinner plate.

"Since I've been growing crops using these methods for a local market since the mid-1980s, I consider it a compliment that something as big as the Slow Food movement would jump on the bandwagon.

Although only a small number of people are aware of local agriculture and Slow Food, their numbers are growing rapidly.

"I am very hopeful that we will make a difference in the health and lifestyles of our communities."