Youth participation is backbone of Slow Food movement in Boston

By Caylan Davis
12/10/10

Slow Food Boston is one of the fastest-growing and most active chapters of Slow Food in the country, something the organization's leaders attribute to the area's large youth population.

Rosemary Melli, New England's regional governor of Slow Food, said the concentration of colleges in the area bolsters membership as many youth are foregoing fast food to embrace a 'slow' lifestyle.

Tufts University (below) and Boston University have active Slow Food chapters, while MIT, Harvard University and Boston College have related sustainable food organizations on campus.

A growing number of young people are "very concerned about their health," Melli said, "and they're very concerned about the direction of our environment, and what kind of world this is gonna be for them and their children."

Slow Food appeals to a younger demographic because many of the organization's events, like regular potlucks, revolve around enjoying food with friends and family, providing a social experience.

"I could just see how young folks would gravitate toward this," Melli said.

Melli said she's thankful for the younger generation's tendency to get involved in important social causes.

Sam Levin, a student at Memorial High School in Massachusetts, has risen to fame within the Slow Food movement. He was one of the founders of Project Sprout, an initiative to build a vegetable garden on his school's grounds.

In 2008, Levin was invited to speak at the biannual Terra Madre conference in Italy, created by Slow Food founder Carlo Petrini. People from all over the world gather at the conference to share ideas about how to improve the current food system.

Levin addressed a crowd of thousands, and received rave reviews. "The story of project sprout," he said, "is a message from our generation to all generations that came before us that says we will be the generation that reunites mankind with the earth."

Melli was moved by Levin's speech, saying, "That's just the nature of young people -- they want to save the world."

While many middle-aged and elderly people take part in the movement, Melli said the young bring a different perspective to the table. 

"As we get older, we get so mired down in cynicism and so it just makes sense that they play a great part in this movement," she said, "because we need that energy, we need that outlook. We need that motivation, those wonderful bright ideas that people have, that are not afraid to act on them."

Elizabeth Jarrard, treasurer of Slow Food BU, is a college senior who said that young people like her have a strong presence in the movement.

Jarrard buys locally as much as she can, saying, "It's important that the food I consume is healthy not only for me, but for the farmers who made it, the environment, and the community. Slow Food brings all of those principles together."

Melli said she is excited about young people getting involved with the organization because it's those people who are going to eventually have the power to go out and make policy.

Ronit Ridberg, co-chair of Slow Food Tufts, is pursuing a graduate degree in agriculture and food policy.

Part of Ridberg's role at Slow Food Tufts is to help organize educational events, potlucks and field trips. A recent field trip involved visiting a cranberry bog to see cranberry production first-hand.

"The values of Slow Food are what I'm building my life around. Not because of Slow Food -- in fact, I did most of these things before I joined Slow Food. But Slow Food seemed to offer a formal place for me to funnel some of this energy."

Ridberg said she thinks young people are critical to the movement's success.

"I think there's a freshness, an energy, an optimism and creative spark that hasn't been burned out or beaten down yet by experience."

Ridberg went to the 2010 Terra Madre conference in October, where some participants advocated that youth take charge of the movement entirely, and leave the older generations out of it.

But Ridberg said that sustainable eating isn't just for the young. She was inspired by a man who spoke of harmony between young and old.

"'We need the energy of the youth with the wisdom of the elders -- a combination of the two,' he said. I appreciate this notion and feel like there needs to be collaborative energy," Ridberg said.