Implementing the Slow Life in Southwest Ireland: A Case Study of Clonakilty and Local Food†

In the late 1980s, a grassroots movement emerged in Italy with the purposes of preserving and promoting local culinary practices. This so-called Slow Food movement constitutes a backlash against globalization, industrial agriculture, the fast food industry, monoculture, and the risks of unchecked agribusiness practices in the production and processing of food products. The goal of the Slow Food movement is to counteract fast food and the loss of local food traditions by promoting the consumption and enjoyment of locally produced food (Knox and Meyer 2013). Clonakilty (2011 population 4,721), located thirty miles southwest of the city of Cork on Ireland's southern coast, is Ireland's first and only "slow city" (Figure 1). It attained this designation from Cittaslow, an Italian-based and now global organization that grew out of the Slow Food movement's efforts to preserve and promote local food cultures. At the core of the Slow Food movement is the terroir concept: the combination of physical factors (climate and soils) and human ones (tradition and cultivation practices) that influence what food is grown and raised, and how it is prepared and cooked in a particular agricultural community (Petrini 2001). It is the basis for the appellation system of regulations, which links a certain area with a particular wine and has now been extended to include other foodstuffs, such as meats and cheeses in the European Union and elsewhere. Slow Food and Cittaslow reject the standardization of culture and taste that has come with globalization; instead, they emphasize planning strategies and programs that foster "a sense of place" that is derived from a town's unique environmental and cultural setting: its terroir. Promoting seasonal festivals that celebrate local foods, and the production of local wine, are approaches used to foster that sense of place. [FIGURE 1 OMITTED] The concept of "slowness" is not monolithic; it varies in its interpretation and implementation. In one of the earliest slow-city studies, Paul Knox (2005) identified urban design elements that promote a sense of place and facilitate human interaction. Other researchers have evaluated Cittaslow as a means of promoting sustainable development in small towns in New Zealand (Semmens and Freeman 2012), tourism in northern Italy (Nilsson and others 2012), and Turkey (Yurtseven and Kaya 2011), while Sarah Pink and Lisa Servon (2013) examined Cittaslow's appeal to town leaders in northwest Spain. Heike Mayer and Paul Knox (2006) found in a study of two slow towns in southern Germany that each emphasized a different aspect of "slowness." A sense of place was encouraged in Waldkirch by its twice-weekly market held in its automobile-free central square. In Hersbruck, the focus was on protecting pasturelands and heritage apple trees in the surrounding area, and connecting farmers with townspeople to ensure that local farms remain viable. Mara Miele (2008) documented different versions of "slowness" in Orvieto and San Vincenzo, Italy; Orvieto emphasized local wine and food production in promoting slowness; San Vincenzo, a coastal resort, focused on improving its environmental attributes. By its very nature, the slow movement suggests adaptability and local control in its varied expressions. The above Cittaslow town studies have been conducted at a macrolevel with little consideration given to the practical implications of implementing the network's principles at the individual business level. Moreover, no studies have examined the applicability of Cittaslow's emphasis on promoting local culinary distinctiveness as a means of contributing to a community's sense of place. In Italy, where Slow Food and Cittaslow originated, there is a long tradition of associating food and wine with a community's sense of place. Chianti wine production, for example, is associated with several villages in central Tuscany, while the famous Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese is linked to portions of Emilia Romagna in north-central Italy. …