A list of basic specifications is being drawn up this week and certificates will be issued to each town that has qualified. So far, the 32 councils that have joined the program range from cities in the north to ones in the southernmost tip of Italy. The future plan is for towns and cities in other countries to adopt these ideals and join together to make this a world-wide movement. It was the terrifying thought of a McDonald's at the Spanish Steps, one of Italy's most treasured public spaces, that gave birth to the 'Slow Food' movement. It would promote the ritual of family dining and eating seasonal foods, and safeguard regional cuisines and the producers who cultivate them.
Members meet for long, leisurely meals, to talk about food, wine, culture and philosophy.
They organize wine tastings and cooking classes. This philosophy might seem downright un-American. The movement has attracted more than 40,000 members worldwide with 295 chapters in Italy and another 110 in 35 countries. Supporters include the French historian Jacques Le Goff, the British wine expert Hugh Johnson and the Italian playwright-actor Dario Fo, a recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature. Slow Cities Keep up on the latest breaking developments on this story and the rest of Europe by clicking here to our Raw News page.