Saratoga County has farms aplenty and places an emphasis on buying local, so it only makes sense that it would also be home to Slow Food Saratoga, an organization that supports that homegrown culture.
“It’s a regional chapter of Slow Food USA, which in turn is a sub-organization of Slow Food International,” said John Sconzo, president.
The international organization started in the ‘80s in Italy and quickly spread.
“It was a reaction to the opening of a McDonald’s by the Spanish steps in Rome. The reaction was that here you have all this food with no character and fast food is taking away everything that good food means in terms of health, socialization, society, culture, etc.,” said Sconzo.
Twenty years later, Slow Food’s motto is quite simple and encompasses the Italian conundrum that launched it: good, clean and fair.
“Slow Food is all about food that promotes good, clean and fair. Good as in delicious and healthy, clean as in environmentally responsible and fair as in nobody’s taken advantage of in the process,” said Sconzo.
The Saratoga chapter was actually launched four years ago by Sconzo’s son, then in high school and now away at college. It’s just now regaining momentum.
“The first couple of years we were very active, then it got a little difficult, and now it’s picked up again,” said Sconzo. “We depend on our members for what we do.”
What the food conscious group does is hold restaurant outings that feature a set menu for a reasonable price, so Slow Food members and the public can support and experience a meal that adheres to the organization’s values.
“We get together at restaurants in the region that are doing food that’s good, clean and fair,” said Sconzo. “So, if they’re supporting local farmers we like that. If they’re preserving culinary traditions we like that. If they’re doing one or the other or both.”
Slow Food Saratoga also sponsors farm tours where the public can travel from farm to farm sampling products and getting a glimpse at local food operations. The organization also hosts potluck dinners and fundraises to support a project of the international arm.
“We’ve done some fundraisers to raise funds to support Slow Food International where we sponsor a community garden in Africa,” said Sconzo. “Basically, we want to expand ourselves to maintain a social event but expand to more activism to improve the outlook for good, clean and fair food in this area.”
Arielle Landsberg, a new board member of Slow Food Saratoga, got involved because she “fell in love” with the region’s culinary character.
“I fell in love with the strong food culture of Upstate New York. I went to Piedmont, Italy last year where the movement started and saw that Slow Food had the potential to represent and promote the Capital Region’s unique relationship with food,” said Landsberg. “Mainly, that there are a large number of people who celebrate and respect local food producers and artisans.”
Landsberg also lent a hand to the organization by creating a website that has enhanced its presence in the community.
“I have a web and graphic design company here in Saratoga and we volunteered our time to create a website that will allow the organization to celebrate and promote this strong food culture,” said Landsberg.
New members like Landsberg are partially to thank for Slow Food Saratoga’s “revival,” said Sconzo.
“We have some new members that have really injected a lot of energy and enthtusiasm. We have a better way of getting our word out through a revamped website and Twitter and Facebook,” said Sconzo.
Slow Food Saratoga has a satellite chapter at the Schenectady County Community College culinary center and is working to establish one at Skidmore in order to reach a younger generation.
The organization is also planning basic cooking classes.
“We’ve started a program (that’s in its infancy but it has great potential), to teach basic cooking skills to people who want to take part in that,” said Sconzo. “We had one called basic egg cookery at Saratoga Farmers Market and have done butchering whole chickens … it’s something we really look forward to, taking to different locations and expanding to people whom we can reach.”
The demonstrations are designed for people who don’t know how to cook or who are intimidated by what they assume is a complicated task.
“[It’s] to show them basic food is really pretty simple, healthy and good,” said Sconzo. “We’re working on ways to expand that and get it to the people who most need it.”
Slow Food Saratoga is open to anybody for a small fee that’s paid directly to Slow Food USA.
“We’re an inclusive organization and are always interested in bringing people who have an interest in supporting and working on these kinds of projects,” said Sconzo. “We’re very welcoming in that regard.”
Members of Slow Food Saratoga can help with existing projects and have a say in creating new ones, said Sconzo.
For more information visit www.slowfoodsaratoga.com or www.twitter.com/slowfoodtoga.
