S l o w d o w n

The stimulus was an article that I received over e-mail, which began like this:

An interesting reflection : Slow Down Culture

It’s been 18 years since I joined Volvo, a Swedish company. Working for them has proven to be an interesting experience. Any project here takes 2 years to be finalized, even if the idea is simple and brilliant. It’s a rule.

Globalize [Globalization?] processes have caused in us (all over the world) a general sense of searching for immediate results. Therefore, we have come to posses a need to see immediate results. This contrasts greatly with the slow movements of the Swedish. They, on the other hand, debate, debate, debate, hold x quantity of meetings and work with a slowdown scheme. At the end, this always yields better results.

It made interesting reading, and can be found on numerous blogs including this one and this one.

Among all the nice and warm and fuzzy sentiments (and an unusual number of spelling and other mistakes), there was something that got me curious, which was this portion:

Nowadays, there’s a movement in Europe name Slow Food. This movement establishes that people should eat and drink slowly, with enough time to taste their food, spend time with the family, friends, without rushing.

Slow Food is against its counterpart: the spirit of Fast Food and what it stands for as a lifestyle. Slow Food is the basis for a bigger movement called Slow Europe, as mentioned by Business Week.

And so I decided to try and find out more - we’re in the Age of Google after all. And this is what it led me to, on that other marvelous outcome of the Internet - Wikipedia!

Personally, I find the philosophy of Slow Food fascinating:

We believe that everyone has a fundamental right to pleasure and consequently the responsibility to protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this pleasure possible. Our movement is founded upon this concept of eco-gastronomy – a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet.
From the Slow Food Philosophy

And if Slow Food isn’t interesting enough, you may want to check out The Slow Movement.

Speaking for myself, I’ve managed to locate In Praise Of Slowness, by Carl Honore at the incomparable Stand Bookstall, and at its incomparable prices!

And even without all that, I’m all for “Stop the world! I want to get off!!!”

About this entry

You’re currently reading “S l o w d o w n,” an entry on the view from the ground

Published:
03.03.07 / 1pm
Category:
LifeLine