Critical food guidance from the slow food movement: The relationship barometer

Authors

  • Brooke Fader Slow Food in Canada
  • Michèle Mesmain Slow Food in Canada
  • Ellen Desjardins Editor Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v9i1.509

Keywords:

Slow Food, Slow Fish, food movement, food guidance, food relationships, wild salmon, local food systems

Abstract

The Slow Food movement embeds food guidance that encourages interaction with local food production and appreciation of local cuisine. It advocates critical thinking and actions that support the preservation of traditional food practices, as well as environmental considerations around food harvesting and processing. We begin by contextually situating Slow Food as a movement and a change agent. We then introduce a critical guidance tool called the Slow Food Relationship Barometer, developed by Fader and Mesmain from their experience in southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This tool is meant for use by advocacy groups and policy makers rather than individuals. It is based on the view that identifying and assessing the multiple relationships intrinsic to a local food product—from origins to the table—can reveal pathways toward its improved sustainability. We illustrate how the Relationship Barometer can be applied to the case of wild and farmed salmon, which also underlies the Slow Fish movement.

Author Biography

Ellen Desjardins, Editor Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l'alimentation

Ellen has had a long career in public health nutrition and healthy food systems in Toronto and Waterloo. With a PhD in human geography, she is now a research associate at the University of Waterloo. Her past work included food-related policy and program development at the federal and provincial (Ontario) levels. Co-chairing the Waterloo Food Systems Roundtable, Ellen helped develop a food systems strategy, municipal food policies and a food charter for the Region. She was a founding member of Food Secure Canada and the Canadian Association for Food Studies. Ellen’s research centres on food and place, or how people experience and interact with their food environment. She has acted as principal investigator for a number of major research projects.
the fishing boat of Danny Wick of DCW Fishing Sales, Vancouver Island

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Published

2022-04-14

How to Cite

Fader, B., Mesmain, M., & Desjardins, E. (2022). Critical food guidance from the slow food movement: The relationship barometer. Canadian Food Studies La Revue Canadienne Des études Sur l’alimentation, 9(1). https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v9i1.509

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 1 (2022): Critical perspectives on food guidance

Section

Themed Section

License

Copyright (c) 2022 Brooke Fader, Michèle Mesmain, Ellen Desjardins

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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