The Slow Movement, or Movimento Lento, is a cultural shift towards a slower pace of life. It started with Slow Food in Italy in 1986, advocating for natural and regional foods. Slow Travel, Slow Design, Slow Sport, Slow Shopping, and Slow Work followed. The World Institute of Slowness and Cittaslow in Italy joined the movement. The philosophy is to increase quality of life by decreasing speed, not to return to the past. It promotes improvements in every area of life.
Movimento Lento is a change in cultural attitude towards a slower speed of life. It’s not about doing everything at a slow, deliberate pace, it’s about doing things at the right pace. According to followers of the Slow Movement, life is lived too fast and culture is expected to move too fast. The change started in 1986 and has incorporated many related movements.
The Slow Movement began with the Slow Food organization in Italy in 1986. Founded by Carlo Petrini, Slow Food started a resistance movement against McDonalds and other fast food chains. Slow Food has underlined the importance of the bioregion, an area of land where natural foods are grown from animals, plants and seeds. Petrini started the movement to protest the unhealthy foods served in fast food restaurants. He fought for the resurgence of national foods and cultural cuisines, particularly relevant in his home country of Italy.
Slow Travel soon emerged as an accompanying movement. This organization emphasizes slowing down the act of travel. At a fast pace traveling you will miss the details that make travel worthwhile. A slow pace will encourage art, nature and culture. This Slow Travel movement was later complemented by movements in many other slow areas: Slow Design, Slow Sport, Slow Shopping and Slow Work, among others.
The Movimento Lento gained an important ally in 1999 with the establishment of The World Institute of Slowness. This institute, founded by Geir Berthelsen, advocated for a more enriched life through the Slow Movement. The philosophy of the World Institute of Slowness has encouraged care, love, closeness, reflection and solidarity.
The World Institute of Slowness was soon followed into Movimento Lento by Cittaslow in Italy. This movement encouraged a cultural slowdown of life in cities and towns, originally all over Italy. After converting more than 30 towns in Italy, Cittaslow has moved on to the rest of Europe, from the UK to Germany, Austria, Norway and Spain.
The main tenet of the Slow Movement since its inception, however, has been slowing down the preparation and consumption of food. Organic and regional foods have remained very prominent in more than 50 countries, including chapters in more than three dozen United States.
Supporters of the Movimento Lento are not emphasizing a leap into the past, but a slowing down of life in a modern world. They argue for an increase in quality, in food, work, retail, and life, by a decrease in speed. The Slow Movement philosophy calls for a more enjoyable life through improvements in every area of life, from sex to parenting to medicine.
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