Week 8: Local Slow Food "Convivium" Visits 1812 Garden

One of the reasons the plants in the 1812 garden are so interesting, is because they are so rare. Due to the fact that dozens of seed companies were bought out and consolidated by multi-national corporations (Monsanto, Dow) in the 1970s, the diversity of seeds available to public has plummeted. Today modern food production favors the use of a few highly specialized varieties selected for maximum output in semi controlled environments (such as monocultures). As a result, many delicious, regionally adapted vegetable and fruit varieties are being forgotten or marginalized and are at risk of disappearing completely. As it turns out, the many heirloom fruits and vegetables that once sustained a particular region before the advancement of industrial agriculture are now only being cultivated in small specialized farms, or in the gardens of hobbyists.

 

The Slow Food movement (and corresponding organization, Slow Food USA) has set a mission against this. Slow Food USA is a “non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America” (Slow Food USA). Slow Food believes that the marginalized heirloom varieties “and the communities that produce and depend on them, are constantly at risk of succumbing to the effects of the fast life, which manifests itself through the industrialization and standardization of our food supply and degradation of our farmland” (Slow Food USA). The 170 Slow Food chapters, each called a ‘convivium’ carry out the Slow Food mission on a local level by offering educational events that advocate sustainability and the importance of maintaining biodiversity.

 

This past Monday, the local Slow Food chapter held a potluck at Hamilton College and toured the Community Farm and 1812 Garden. While this chapter has its own goals and projects pertaining to the Slow Food mission I think there is a lot of potential for Slow Food to team up with the 1812 Garden. Slow Food could use the garden as a laboratory test ground in order to instigate ‘grow outs,’ (where a few heirloom varieties are grown on a large enough scale to produce enough seed for the next year to make them a viable crop to be grown on a commercial level). Ideally a ‘grow out’ could start in the 1812 Garden as a sort of bioregional test patch. At the end of an initial grow out (baring any crop failures) the seeds saved from the 1812 Garden could move into greener, or larger, pastures (perhaps the Community Farm would be interested). I think the local Slow Food convivium should utilize this opportunity along with their resources and connections in order to instigate heirloom ‘grow outs.’

 

The Slow Food movement is not about membership fees or having the most localized dish at a potluck. It’s about accepting the responsibility of being a co-producer of one’ss food, and supporting and instigating the cultural changes needed to fend off the prevalence of convenience food and industrial agribusiness.