Indeed, why would the advocacy for food and pleasure fade? Consider Brillat-Savarin, “Gastronomy watches over the preservation of men, by means of the best nourishment possible,” and Carlo Petrini, “Gastronomy enables us to experience educated pleasure and to learn pleasurably.”
Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse and current Vice President of Slow Food International, is well known for introducing Americans to the idea that fresh is the key to flavor. But Waters often mentions a related idea that is equally important. Speaking of the growth of the Slow Food movement in a recent interview she says:
Yes, we are now in 156 countries and I think the reason it is so successful is because it is using pleasure to bring people back to their understanding ideas like sustainability and biodiversity by feeding them. I am a Montessori teacher and I believe we learn by doing. There is no real book for this revolution.
We should not underestimate the importance of pleasure in bringing about social change. People are more likely to change their behavior if the goal is more pleasure. This is something that religions have understood and that…
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