9 Slow Food Ideas

Grandma knew more. When I was young I thought it all was "old wives tales", now that I'm older and little wiser I realize that often Grandma's advice is at least as good as, if not better than, what contemporary experts claim as "new findings".

For example, Grandmothers everywhere have known forever that garlic is good for you. Italian grandmothers, Asian grandmothers, Irish grandmothers, American grandmothers - they all know it's good for you. Some grandmas would even go to the point of hanging strings of garlic above doorways to prevent evil spirits from entering their homes. Don't laugh it makes sense if we think about it.

Then about twenty years ago, people started buying garlic supplements. Not so smelly. And convenient - no peeling, traveling - just carry the capsules. So every one is taking these supplements and it's definitely helping people.

So it's pretty much an accepted treatment for colds, etc. But doctors and scientists still are not using garlic in treatment applications. It's still considered "supplemental" and "alternative" rather than having medicinal,curative properties.

So even though most of us are comfortable using garlic to help with colds and flu, western medicine is still behind.

So when it comes to listening to advice about eating healthier, Slow Food Movement followers and others are best to trust in "heirloom advice" as well as they do heirloom seeds.

Below are 9 Slow Food Ideas your grandma would tell you if she was a Squidoo lensmaster.

Eat real food. Native foods, local to your environment or heirloom are the best varieties to choose from.

Eating foods that are native to your environment benefits the land and helps you adapt to your environment.

I've talked alot about eating native foods in my native food lense. But it's important to know that there is a biodynamic relationship between our food, our bodies and our environment.

Eat your turnips. Sound familiar? Or Familial? Traditional knowledge, often referred to as old wives tales are often based on years of "field practice" and is frequently more reliable than "lab studies".

Foods that Grandma said to eat are often healthier for us and the earth.

Turnips, parsnips and beets and other related root vegetables are often available in heirloom and native varieties. They often will last longer in cold storage and are high in nutrients.

Live close to your food source. If you can grow plant foods in your flower beds. Garlic and roses are great companion plants and garlic will help keep aphids off the roses.

You don't have to grow a huge garden, a few herbs, some potatoes. Garlic will grow just about anywhere. Growing your own food isn't just about eating -it connects you to life generating cycles.

Learn to cook. Not just throw food together. Or open a box and add some ingredients.


Cooking is an art and just as in art, appreciate color, vitality and simplicity.

Here's a great and versatile example:

A simple pot of black beans (classic black) can be dressed up with fresh diced tomatoes (red beaded necklace or tie), goat cheese (white shirt), and green onions (emerald accessories).

Black beans can be substituted for any other bean or legume in most cases, just as the black dress can be switched with red and it all still works great for any occasion.

Often the thought is that price equals quality. With food that's not necessarily the case.

Food in stores is about demand and production cost. However foods that are often closer to home and are unusual, which often means heirloom, are often available from local farmers at a reasonable cost.

Just because you buy organic doesn't make it better, it just costs more. Growing your own food will help you value what you eat more and be more conscious of food quality and freshness.

Don't waste your food. Most of your food value is in the stems, leaves, skin and roots. Use it to make broths or chop finely and add to soups.

As you begin to grow your own food or gather from wild foods, you'll begin to realize how much effort goes into food production. So you'll find more and more that you maximize use as much as possible.

Sip don't gulp. If Grandma didn't say, I swear I must have said it thousands of times to my own kids.


Take time with your food. In some indigenous traditions food is considered sacred. To gulp your food would be disrespectful of the food, the earth, the people that grew, harvested and prepared it.

In asian cultures, people eat with their hands or with chopsticks. It causes you to slow down and focus on enjoying your food.

Value your relationship to food, life and vitality.

The food that we eat is the culmination of the cycles before it, the water, air, sun, soil, nurturing that it receives now that we will eat and will go into the seed that will make the next generation of plant foods.

Food has a consciousness and intelligence to it, either it increases our vitality as we consume it or it decreases it. It all amounts to simple choices we make along the way.