The official UN recommendations correspond to the core of the Slow Food philosophy, which supports returning to local and seasonal products. For Slow Food producers and eaters, it’s not just about “organic” but also about the origins and transport conditions of the food, as well as the farmers and workers who produce it. Who wants to eat tomatoes, for which the picker receives two cents a kilo, even if they are “organic”.
It’s not just food journalists that have observed that the relationship between food and people is changing rapidly. Food is not just about taste and health anymore, but also the basic life resources of land, water, air and genes, which were previously common property. Today they are the objects of speculation on international markets.
It’s unclear whether the next G8 summit in Sardinia in July 2009 and the Kyoto 2 conference in December 2009 in Copenhagen will see a change in policies. Citizens can make their voice heard via the voting booth.
They can also influence food politics by voting with their forks. Three times a day, those of us who are not starving, can decide for ourselves what we want to eat. What and how we eat has consequences for people as well as biological and cultural diversity.
But voters need to be informed. The Culinary Cinema 2009 shows a selection of current documentaries on the theme of nutrition, health and the environment. The truth sometimes leaves a bitter taste. But perhaps those of us who don’t close their eyes, but take care of their fellow human beings, will end up at the heavenly banquet, feasting as in the fable of the long forks.
