In the face of fast-food chains, endangered plants and the effect mass food production has on the land as well as our own culture and taste buds, a gastronomic movement called the Slow Food movement is attempting to slow the frantically spinning world down to a more leisurely pace where plate, palate and planet are taken into consideration.

The Slow Food movement first defined themselves as a gastronomic organization concerned with taste. Later, the mandate expanded to include environmental concerns such as biodiversity and sustainable farming and fishing practices. The issues raised were meant to nuture and protect not only the products that were at risk but also the people who were dedicated their lives to raising and producing them.

"It also is an effort to reclaim the pleasures of the table, strengthening the family and community by encouraging them to eat together," said Jim Pearce, convivium leader for Slow Food Vancouver.

Whistler now hosts its own Slow Food convivium, which is made up of of resident chefs, producers, retailers and food lovers who seek to embrace a stronger understanding of how the four groups can better work together around the dinner table. The not yet one-year-old community organization seeks to expand its membership, giving residents of the Sea to Sky Corridor the opportunity to learn more about the movement, benefit from the international organization’s educational resources and celebrate the bounty of the corridor’s farmers and chefs through local potlucks, workshops and networking opportunities.

Between Whistler’s fine dining scene of more than 60 restaurants and Pemberton’s rich farming community, Jeannette Helmer of Helmer Organic Farms in Pemberton believes the Whistler convivium was a much needed resource.

"(The movement) is keen to preserve and enhancing agriculture in Canada", said Helmer. "It is a wonderful way to network and to read how other farms around the world are coping with similar problems, and also to learn about the different ways of cooking and using slow foods."

On August 21, 2005,  Slow Food Whistler is planning " Slow Food Cycle Sunday: Go Back to the Land; Slow Down; Take it All In -- 50km en masse bike-ride through the heart of Pemberton’s farmland, where local food producers will set up stalls displaying their crops. It’s the reverse of a Farmers Market -- instead of the farmers packing up their produce and heading to the people, Slow Food Cycle Sunday will take the people to the farmers.

To register for the Whistler Convivium, contact info@whistler.slowfood.ca. For the Vancouver convivium, visit www.slowfoodvancouver.com.




contributed by Nicole Fitzgerald – CityFood correspondent for Whistler