Move Over Fast Food
Slow Food Takes Root in SW Virginia

Written by Sarah Cox

Twenty years ago, an Italian boy by the name of Carlo Petrini became afraid. He didn’t quake for fear of monsters under the bed or ghosts in the closets or even the rising cost of gasoline, but the demise of nutritious, homegrown foods and the culture and traditions that value them—a fear based on real trends. As Petrini grew older, he watched the rise of agribusiness put the strain on small, local growers. He became concerned about the dwindling tradition of families sharing a home cooked meal. And when McDonald’s planned to build a restaurant near the Piazza di Spagna in Rome in 1986, Petrini put his concerns into action, organizing a protest in which demonstrators wielded bowls of penne pasta as their “weapons.”

Soon after, Petrini began the Slow Food movement, which has since blossomed into an international organization involving 50 countries and over 80,000 members. By the mid-1990’s, adherents had traded their “pasta weaponry” for computers, lobbying the European Union on trade and agricultural policy and working to revive endangered foods. Despite phenomenal growth, however, the essence of the movement remains the same: to promote food and wine culture. By reviving simpler, culinary methods that value health, quality, and practices (both social and agricultural) beneficial to the community and environment, dinner is not only delicious and filling, but fulfilling as well.

In America, take the cause of the modest apple. When the Albemarle Pippin, which originated in 1700, is lost, then so will a valuable part of our heritage. Consider that at the beginning of the 20th century there were up to 8,000 varieties of apples in America, but with advancements in industry and trade, these numbers have dropped dramatically.

Slow food can, and has, revived what is on the brink of extinction. It has also revived the art of eating around the family table, where political arguments and family disputes are softened by the sweet flavor of sun-ripened tomatoes and washed down with hearty gulps of local wine. The San Francisco Chronicle sees Slow Food as “hitting a chord with an international constituency worried about the degradation of the environment, the unknown hazards of genetically modified foods and the loss of handcrafted, labor-intensive traditional foods in a globalized marketplace.’’

In our Commonwealth, this movement has grabbed the attention of Executive Chef Doug Knopp of the celebrated Boar’s Head Inn, who runs the four-diamond restaurant in Charlottesville while serving as an active Slow Food USA member. Knopp buys organic local produce from the Charlottesville Farmers Market and makes it his business to know the local farmers, patronize local economies, and serve nutritious foods.

Tucked away in Southwest Virginia, a chef of our own is making a concerted effort to do the same. Tony Pope, who formed a partnership in March with Gary Crowder of Wertz’s Restaurant on Market Street in Roanoke, has brought his Charleston, SC, Slow Food tradition with him. A former chef and owner of Zinc’s Bistro in Charleston, he is introducing Roanoke to contemporary regional cuisine. “I’m very much interested in bringing that way of thinking up here, by using local food and doing my menu according to what is provided to me [by local farming].” Fifty percent of Wertz’s produce comes from its own farm in Southwest county, and the rest from local producers.

“I’m not getting food from any retail or wholesale markets from South America, but from local farmers,” said Pope. “Everything I use comes out of ground from 15 to 20 miles from here, and obviously organic produce is the best—it’s natural.’’

The second annual Taste of Floyd, which promotes the mission of the Blue Ridge Slow Food Convivium (or chapter), will draw equally ardent members when it takes place Saturday, September 16, from 11 am to 4 pm on the grounds surrounding the Harvest Moon building on Rt.8. The festival will feature offerings from local farmers plus samples from the new Over the Moon Bakery & Coffee Shop. Head baker of Over The Moon and executive chef at Oddfella’s Cantina, Natasha Shiskevish, observes that “[Americans] work so hard…that we often lose sight of why we work. The Slow Food movement is growing rapidly in this country because we’re finally beginning to realize we have to slow down occasionally to smell the roses. Breaking bread with family and friends at the kitchen table is an American tradition that is regaining our appreciation.”

Margie Ryan, owner of Harvest Moon, described last year’s Taste of Floyd as the shove that many local producers needed to get the word out about buying and using local produce. One of the convivium’s long-term goals is to educate school systems to bring in quality foods and raise the awareness of Floyd’s products. “I would love to see Floyd County become a Slow Food county,’’ said Ryan, explaining that would mean the restaurants in the area used local products.

Slow Food is seasonal. It means using apples in the fall, berries in the summer, and winter squash when it has ripened to perfection and heavy on the vine. Local farmers deliver produce to Chef Pope mid-week, while he pulls vegetables daily from the restaurant farm. Then, he says, he sits down and rewrites his menu every Thursday to reflect what he has waiting for him in the kitchen. The tomato on his patrons’ plates will be all tomato. The bread, fresh from On The Rise bakery down the street. The produce, warmed in the sun over Floyd and Southwest County.

No fillers, no microwaves, few shortcuts. It’s Slow Food—not fast food—warmed in the earth, tended by careful hands and trucked a few miles down the mountain. Prepared lovingly and served in the company of family and friends—just the way it was meant to be. Southwest Virginia is making Petrini proud.

For more information on the international Slow Food movement, visit www.slowfood.com. To learn more or attend the upcoming Taste of Floyd event, visit www.harvestmoonfoodstore.com, or call 540.745.4366.

Posted: September 1st, 2006 under Taste of the City.

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