A Gastronomic Sojourn

Xenia Lam shares insights about her gastronomic travel experiences, from the Slow Food Movement orginating in Italia to her trying bear meat in Japan and why she feels cultural coordination tools can become actors of change, that can truly shape the future of food for the generations to come

For me it was a choice – to be or not to be? But then I made the best decision of my life – I went on a yearlong sabbatical to pursue my Masters in Gastronomy: Food in the World and in a cause, I strongly believe in, in one of the most beautiful and bountiful countries of the world – Italia!

I went to study at the temple of slow food – The University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Bra, Italy; housed in a splendid neo-gothic building called Tenuta Reale.

For those that do not know; the Slow food movement was initiated by Carlo Petrini and a group of activists in the 1980s with the primary objective to defend gastronomic pleasures, regional traditions, good healthy food at a slow pace of life. It endorsed many initiatives at developing intelligence and culture of food. With over twenty years of history, the movement has progressed to embrace a comprehensive approach to food. One that recognises the strong connections between planet, plate, people, politics and culture. Today, Slow Food represents a global movement connecting thousands of projects and millions of people in over one hundred and sixty countries.

The unfortunate truth is that we live in an increasingly disjointed society, where at one point of time the strength of the great narratives that for decades brought people together and inspired their commitment have now lost their power of desirability.

The trend of the Slow Food Movement has been present since decades but has recently been propelled into the forefront of the prominent world issues as the cause and remedy of local economic circumstances, environmental challenges and complications with social norms. The Slow Food Movement could be considered a counter-trend to fast food. It was created in response to the amplification of a fast food culture, the diminishment of people caring where their food came from and the degeneration of local food traditions.