The Slow Food MovementIn 1987, Carlo Petrini launched a coalition dedicated to the politics and pleasures of slow food and opposition to fast food. (Leitch 439) He describes one of his goals by saying: I am for virtuous globalization, where there is fair and genuine trade to help small farmers. It is important to have organic and healthy trade, against genetically modified organisms and processes that poison the earth with chemicals. For example, we find coffee in Chiappas, amaranth in Argentina. Slow Food is able to provide them with more money and better deals than big companies would. (Leitch 430) The efforts of the Slow Food movement are essential to the survival of an aesthetic world of authentic food and respect for the people who produce, grow, and prepare it. Slow Food is a deliberate name that is meant to be defined as the opposite of fast, inauthentic meals. (Pietrykowski 310) In developing his organization, Petrini believed that the snail would be the most appropriate symbol for his cause due to the animal's slowness. (Leitch 439) I believe that to preserve the authenticity of regional cuisine, the people who prepare the food must have knowledge of their culture, an understanding of the ingredients they use, and the ingredients they select must come from their region and no other. In their ess...... middle of paper ......ng whether it should be used or not. The Slow Movement has the respect of organizations around the world for sticking to what they believe in and letting opposing corporations and businesses fend for themselves. Slow Food and Carlo Petrini have much to be proud of and just reading about their coalition and beliefs has inspired me to incorporate their goals into my life. Works Cited Kummer, Corby. The pleasures of eating. : Chronicle Books, 2002. Leitch, Alison. “Slow Food and the Politics of Pork Fat: Italian Cuisine and European Identity.” Ethnos 68.4 (2003): 437-462. Miele, Mara and Jonathan Murdoch. “The practical aesthetics of traditional cuisines: Slow Food in Tuscany.” Sociologia Ruralis October 2002: 312-325. Pietrykowski, Bruce. “You are what you eat: the social economy of the Slow Food movement.” Social Economy Review September 2004: 307-317.