If there’s anything I’m more passionate about than people, it’s food. Not just any food – food that is pure, flavorful, and fresh. It’s the best. It’s like God’s gift to my mouth.

And that’s a big part of the Slow Food movement. Food that is wholesome and brings together a community. The organization started 20 years ago and now Wichita is joining with the new Wichita/Flint Hills Chapter. Slow Food believes “that everyone has a fundamental right to pleasure and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Their movement is founded upon this concept of eco-gastronomy – recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.”

It gets better. The organization also pushes that food be clean, not harmful to the environment, animals, or our health, and that producers should receive fair payment for their work.

It’s really all about returning to the simplicity and beauty of food. As USA Today noted, “Slow Food aims to be everything that fast food is not.”

On the national level, Slow Food focuses on educating and raising awareness of biodiversity. Wichita/Flint Hills chapter organizer Jen Root hopes to do the same here while bringing Wichita’s good food lovers together. Her appreciation for food runs deep, a product of living in France where food is one step below being worshipped.

Root and her husband have been in the ICT for roughly 3 years and encountered many who thought Wichita had nothing progressive to offer. “If you want something, you have to make it,” said Root. “I got sick of wishing and made something for myself.”

Root and 15 other food lovers met at Mead’s Corner, a fair trade, nonprofit coffeehouse, and started formulating what is on the verge of becoming an official Slow Food chapter. And you don’t have to be a tree-hugging hippie to join – I asked.

“There are no hard labels, no judging, no boundaries. It’s just the promotion of good, healthy eating and being conscious about what you’re putting in your body,” Root informed me.

The group hopes to regularly host events are that encourage members to eat well, live simply, and buy local. Plans are in the works for a traveling shopping day, where you can find all the best markets in town as well as the potential to start some more organic community gardens.

Their next event is a potluck on November 14th at Murillo’s Studios. Everyone is encouraged to bring a locally grown dish and share something about why it’s important to them.

Getting involved is easy – Follow the Wichita/Flint Hills Slow Food Chapter on Twitter or check out their Facebook page.

Image Courtesy of Denise Grays

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