Slow Food Southern Style

By Laurie Perry Vaughen

The idea of “slow food” in a region known for a tendency to dilly-dally, drawl, mosey, and strut may sound redundant. However, the Southeast is seeing a flux of fast food sprawl and cities and towns intent on making their gateways full of “more of the same” icons rather than distinct landmarks and destinations. Across the Southeast, many chefs, craft brew masters, artisan bakers, farmers, and their followers are starting “slow food conviviums” to keep Southern foodways alive and flavorful.

To understand the slow food movement, it might be easier to explain what it is not. It is an alternative to fast, franchised food that has no connection to the local region and that is generally produced with less care to sustainability, organic methods or artistic presentation. Fast food intended for quick thoughtless consumption, often while sitting, or—worse yet—driving, in a vehicle on the way to some other hurried activity. Slow Food was developed as a progressive answer to Fast Food’s elevation of productivity and wholesale efficiency over pleasure, taste, civility, and health. More specifically, Slow Food was initially a direct response by a small town in the Italian Alps name Bra to the opening of a McDonald’s restaurant in Rome’s famous Piazza di Spagna. In 1998, an American branch was born. The movement’s formal membership is said to have doubled in the last two years.

Tom Montague leads a Slow Food Convivium in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where his family helped develop Southside Grille. There Sous Chef Chip Mercer practices Slow Food’s principles elevating such local cuisine as collard, turnip, and mustard greens, crawfish, and hominy to gourmet. The popularity of the restaurant and its success as a catalyst for the Southside District’s revitalization has proven that local traditional foods are worthy of their revival.

The thirty-something Tom was already a regular reader of the international journal, Slow, when he was invited to a ‘slow’ dinner in Seattle honoring the movement’s founder Carlo Petrini. There Tom was introduced to Patrick Martins, the then new President of Slow Food USA. “Martins was encouraging about starting a convivium or chapter in Chattanooga since American food heritage is very much rooted in the South,” said Tom.

The Chattanooga Slow Food Convivium has formed creative partnerships and events with local organizations that share a certain ‘slowness’ in mission. “The work of each of these groups is ‘slow’ in that they work locally and regionally to explore their history and their sense of place—a place with a distinct character apart from the homogenized American culture,” said Tom. Fall Feast, a celebration of local lands, music, and foodways is a Slow Food Chattanooga event that raises money for the North Chickamauga Creek Conservancy, a local land trust. This year’s feast was held in the apple barn at a 75-year old orchard in the watershed of the creek. Guests enjoyed heritage breed Bourbon Red turkeys from nearby Sequatchie Cove Farm. These turkeys are part of the Slow Food USA “Ark of Taste”. Cornerstones, an advocate for preservation of historic landmarks, holds its Wine Over Water festival on the restored Walnut Street Bridge and the Southern Brewers Festival raises money for the local Arts and Education Council that coordinates the biennial Conference on Southern Literature. In 2002 the Council held A Reader’s Feast dinner and slow food celebration at Southside Grill where cookbook authors and culinary historians from the Southeast shared their knowledge of regional folkways. Tickets sold out.

“The unifying idea at all of our events is that we are a group of people who are all interested in spending more time with our food and drink, as opposed to the idea of fast food. We believe that coming together ought to be a ‘convivial’ experience and one where you can learn something about what you are eating and where it came from in the process.”

Chef’s are often the first to educate a community on the value of slow food practices. The culinary organization Chef’s Collaborative provides its members with tools for running ecologically healthy, sustainable food service businesses and making ecologically sound purchasing decisions. Founded in 1993 in Boston, the now national network hosts conferences and tastings and publishes a series of Chef Guides.

New Orleans Chef Susan Spicer

New Orleans Chef Susan Spicer serves on the board of directors of Chef’s Collaborative. “As a chef, and as a consumer, my purchasing choices are more important than ever. Chefs Collaborative, like the Slow Food movement, celebrates local and artisanal producers who provide us with distinctive and delicious foods. I encourage anyone interested in these same issues to sign on and take advantage of the shared knowledge and experience of this great network of chefs and restaurateurs.”

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