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The Italian association was founded in 1986 and the international movement was founded in Paris in 1989. The definition contained in its Manifesto conveys a very clear message: a movement for the protection of the right to taste. If Slow Food has grown into a large-scale international movement, with over 60,000 members in all five continents (of whom about half in Italy), it is precisely because the concept of ‘pleasure’ is a complex one encompassing many meanings and involving many aspects of our existence. If we wish to enjoy the pleasure which this world can give us, we have to give of our all to strike the right balance of respect and exchange with nature and the environment. This is why Slow Food likes to define itself as ‘eco-gastronomes’. The fact is that our pleasure cannot be disconnected from the pleasure of others, but it is likewise connected to the equilibrium we manage to preserve (and in many cases revive) with the environment we live in. Slow Food promotes scores of projects and activities in an effort to revive our increasingly endangered biodiversity and to raise the profile of old trades and crafts. The Ark of Taste is a first step in this direction. The aim of this massive project is to identify and catalogue (alas increasingly often) products, dishes and animals that are in danger of disappearing.  The Ark metaphor is explicit: onto this symbolic ship, Slow Food intends to load gastronomic products threatened by industrial standardization, hyperhygienist legislation, the rules of the large-scale retail trade and the deterioration of the environment.
The aim of the Ark of Taste is to rediscover, catalogue, describe and promote almost forgotten flavors, from violino di capra to the plum tomato of Corbara, from Caciocavallo podolico to bottarga di muggine, or mullet roe, and many others still - all products in danger of extinction but still alive, and with real productive and commercial potential.Slow Food activities cover lots of ground including the world of wine which has literally changed skin in Italy over the last 15 years, the complex universe of cheese, creating the two-yearly Cheese, an exhibition of all the world’s very finest dairy produce. Slow Food also organizes the Salone del Gusto (Hall of Taste), the fourth edition of which was held in October 2002. These are the major large-scale events Slow Food stages to create public awareness. From awareness to wellbeing and back again! The journey is always a new, various and exciting one. Like in the responses man and nature have found together in the course of the centuries to meet a need - that of pleasure - that is much more complex than mere physical survival. Savoria philosophy in matter of product quality perfectly talies with the one explained above and we are happy to support Slow Food by promoting many of the products found in the Ark of Taste list. These gems are identified in our product catalogue by this logo  Have a look at their website www.slowfood.com |