In keeping with our food theme of the last week, I’ll start today by talking about the potato. It is most often associated with Ireland. The Irish were first to adopt it as a staple of their diet in the 18th century, and by the mid-19th century, “reports describing the appearance of a mysterious disease on the potato crops in various parts of Europe in 1845 were regarded with curiosity rather than alarm within Ireland” (quote from The World Potato Congress website – yah, it’s a thing, click here). 1845 marked the arrival in Ireland of Phytophthora infestans (Potato Blight). The period of 1845-1852 was known as the Great Famine (or Potato Famine); more than a million died from starvation and disease, and more than a million emigrated from Ireland to Britain and the United States. Because of this, Ireland remains one of the few European nations whose population is smaller today than it was during the 19th century. All because of the potato!
The Irish are the ethnic group most associated with the potato, due in large part to the Potato Famine and the mass exodus from Ireland that ensued. But in the country of Slovenia, where the national dish is sautéed potatoes with onions, the “Society for the Recognition of Sautéed Potato and Onions as an Independent Dish” is trying to change that. Bostjan Zrimšek, the society’s spokesperson, said of their members, “There are three main rules. One is that you eat sautéed potatoes with onions once a week in the presence of 3 persons who can confirm this! The second one is that eating French fries is prohibited! The third one is we are not related in any way to politics, you shouldn’t talk politics and business in potato meetings!” It’s that third rule I love the most, not because we could all use a break from politics given the shitshow in Washington DC right now, but because there are such things as potato meetings!
This potato-loving Society, which also supports the slow food movement, organizes gala potato evenings, potato excursions, and even international potato festivals. In fact, The World Festival of Sautéed Potatoes was held in Črna na Koroškem, in the north of the country, just last September. The Society has its own anthem, Pražen Krompir (“Home Fried Potatoes”), sung at the official opening of the festival just after noon. The number of sautéed potato making teams was limited to 60 in 2024 due to space restraints. Wow, that’s a lot of pražen krompir.
I love everything about the Society for the Recognition of Sautéed Potato and Onions as an Independent Dish. I’m thinking of starting a local chapter here in Palm Springs and holding potato meetings (again, with no talk of politics). But I was particularly intrigued by the society’s involvement in what is called the “slow food” movement.
The slow food movement was founded in Italy in the 1980s by a man named Carlo Petrini. This global movement promotes locally grown and sourced food, traditional cooking, and sustainable agriculture. A principal aim is to combat “fast food,” as well as educating people to eat their food with appreciation and focus on the quality and not the quantity of it, while speaking out against food waste. It consists of both an international organization (https://www.slowfood.com/) and a national one here in the United States (https://slowfoodusa.org/). Given my changing relationship with food, I am very interested in this.
When my dog Dennis died I was absolutely devastated. The depths of my grief were like nothing that I had ever experienced before. It was something I never want to experience again. So when I adopted Gordon, I was determined to protect his health to the best of my ability and in every way I could think of to give him the longest, happiest life possible.
This meant first that I subscribed him to a wellness and preventative care plan offered by his vet, VCA CareClub®. I then did extensive research on the best food for him at Dog Food Advisor.
I never use the phrase “just a dog,” because I’m not a species-ist. I see Gordon, and all dogs (and cats, and…), as living beings who deserve health, nutritious, life sustaining and enhancing food, and love. It’s taken me awhile, but I’m coming around to the same belief for myself with regard to food.
One of the things I learned at the dog food advice site was how many foods contain ingredients that make a dog feel less hungry but have no beneficial nutritional value. Their meal may make them feel satisfied (sated, full) but that’s it; they got nothing beneficial from eating. It seems obvious now that I am in this intense period of focusing on my diet and weight loss for health reasons, but the same is true of human food.
As I see it, we eat for one of three reasons. Sometimes, it’s just to be social. Like at a party: the food isn’t the point, the gathering is. The other two, hunger and nutrition, are related. We get hungry when our body is telling us it needs something, it needs fuel (nutrients) to keep going. But when we satisfy our hunger with something that doesn’t provide nutrition, like, say, a fast food cheeseburger (and don’t get me wrong, I love a fast food cheeseburger!), and may, in fact, be filling us with harmful things (anti-nutrition), then we have eaten to feel full and not to nourish – which defeats the purpose of eating altogether. That is partially to blame for my obesity, and one of the things I am training my focus on.
Sautéed potatoes with onions are probably not the best solution for me. But I am taking a long hard look at the slow food movement as I plan out my future food choices. To your health!