The Slow Food Movement

I was watching the Jon Stewart Show the other night, laughing hysterically as usual and feeling overwhelming depressed as usual, when Jon placed a box onto his desk, pulling out the newest product from Jimmy Dean: sausages wrapped in chocolate chip pancakes- on a stick. Microwaveable. Oh GOD.
Today I was talking to a coworker about the Slow Food Movement. It was founded in 1986 by leftist journalist Carlo Petrini in an effort to wage intellectual war on the homogenization of food around the world. You can actually attend the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy and get a Masters in Gastronomnic Science and Quality Products. More here: www.slowfood.com.
We have become so disconnected from our food. I try to cook mostly whole foods with the least amount of processing. I'm spoiled living in San Francisco, where there is so much beautiful organic produce and hormone-free meat. But I'm getting progressively more depressed with the state of food in this country- how we connect with food (or don't connect) has implications on the way we lives our lives and how we treat other people. I feel great after a rigorous yoga class if I've eaten well all week. I feel a common bond with my fellow human beings. If I've bent the rules and had soda or other processed food, my yoga classes are tortorous- I'm unable to concentrate and I leave class feeling angry at everyone.
Sausage wrapped in a chocolate chip pancake, on a stick. That sausage is hardly even meat anymore. I can't even begin to picture the animal it came from, much less what part it came from.
I wish I had all the time in the world to spend my entire day creating a delicious, beautiful, and healthy meal. I don't. And I would love to move to Italy and get my Masters in Gastronomic Science, but that can't happen for awhile. But no way in hell would I ever eat a sausage wrapped in a chocolate chip pancake.