| We arrived in Verona at dusk driving through the | | | | In a survey by Mintel International Group Ltd., 64% of |
| ancient and well-preserved defensive walls of the city | | | | Americans say that they pick a restaurant based on |
| at Porta Nuova. Colored buildings in hues of orange | | | | how much time they have. This is eating out for the |
| and yellow flanked both sides of our drive, which | | | | wrong reason! The lack of easily available healthy |
| culminated in the third largest Roman arena in the | | | | food has also prompted me to plan ahead by carrying |
| world. It was awe-inspiring as I thought about the | | | | plenty of nutritious snacks packed next to my camera |
| structure's 2,000-year history. My wife quickly | | | | gear while on assignment. Even at the 'Auto Grill,' rest |
| reminded me to turn right and to keep my eyes on the | | | | stops along the highways of Italy, there were plenty of |
| narrow cobblestone streets as we searched for a | | | | fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses, meats and other |
| suitable hotel room. All of the cars in the city were | | | | quality food. Eating healthy food directly relates to an |
| compact or sub-compact in size, since anything larger | | | | increase in my energy level and to the quality of the |
| wouldn't fit down the narrow alleyways. We settled on | | | | photographs that I am able to capture. By taking the |
| L'Hotel Giulietta e Romeo hidden around the corner | | | | time to compose a photograph, I will usually increase |
| from the arena. | | | | the quality of the final print. It takes time to prepare a |
| I asked for a room with a balcony since we were in | | | | good photograph just like it takes time to prepare a |
| the same city that inspired Shakespeare. When we | | | | good meal. |
| got to the elevator, only one person and perhaps two | | | | We need to slow down and enjoy the experience |
| bags would fit. I went in first as my wife held our son. I | | | | instead of hurrying from one place to the next. There |
| heard his, "da da da" all the way up on the ascent to | | | | was a reason why all of the stores in Verona closed |
| our floor. We were both famished, so our first priority | | | | at 7:30PM. The society has made time for friends, |
| was to find a suitable place to eat. We settled on a | | | | family and even the shop owners to have a meal |
| stylish Trattoria in the Piazza delle Erbe, which we later | | | | together. It's no surprise that the Slow Food |
| found out to be the original site of the Roman Forum. It | | | | Movement's head office is in the Piedmont region of |
| was lively and seemed to keep accepting patrons well | | | | northern Italy. Slow Food is "an international association |
| past our arrival at 9PM. I ordered prosciutto and melon, | | | | that promotes food and wine culture and defends |
| cooked spinach in olive oil and a plate of pasta. The | | | | food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide. It also |
| pasta came out first on a very small plate. | | | | opposes the standardization of taste, defends the |
| As soon as I put the first bite in my mouth, it exploded | | | | need for consumer information, protects cultural |
| with the intense and pleasing flavor of vine-fresh | | | | identities tied to food and gastronomic traditions, |
| tomatoes, basil, extra-virgin olive oil and fresh pasta. | | | | safeguards foods and cultivation processing |
| Instead of eating quickly because I was so hungry, I | | | | techniques inherited from tradition and defends |
| wanted to slow down to savor each bite. I equally | | | | domestic and wild animal and vegetable species." You |
| enjoyed the next two small plates of food while | | | | can read more about this association at . The Slow |
| sharing my meal with my hungry and fidgety son. At | | | | Food movement also reads like a handbook for why |
| the end of our 90 plus minute meal, I was very | | | | you should never take a photograph next to a sign |
| satisfied. Sure, I could have eaten more, but I was | | | | that says, "Photographic Moment (take a picture here)." |
| reminded of a Japanese proverb, "Leave the table a | | | | A hallmark of the slow food movement is the |
| little hungry so that you will always come back for | | | | Mediterranean Diet. According to Dario Giugliano, MD, a |
| more." Unfortunately too many Americans are leaving | | | | professor of metabolic diseases at the Second |
| the table full and still coming back for a lot more. The | | | | University of Naples in Italy, "a Mediterranean-style diet |
| Washington Post reported that the obesity rates are | | | | reduced the occurrence of the metabolic syndrome |
| up in most states. The article stated, "22.7 percent of | | | | (an early sign of type 2 diabetes that affects about a |
| American adults were obese (an adult with a body | | | | quarter of the U.S. adult population) in half." Clearly |
| mass index of 30 or more) in the 2002-04 period." | | | | making time to eat the right kinds of food and paying |
| The article went on to further say that the type of diet | | | | attention to the portion sizes is very important. When |
| probably plays a role since it's easier to find a burger | | | | my wife and I go out to dinner, we often split both the |
| and fries than fresh fruits and vegetables in some | | | | entrée and an appetizer because the portion |
| communities. While we may have some of the | | | | sizes are too large for one person. Yet spending time |
| freshest and healthiest food in the world in certain | | | | in Italy also made me feel that our nation's dis-ease (i.e. |
| areas of the country, many people don't concentrate | | | | the obesity epidemic) is something more. I believe that |
| on making nutritious quality food a priority. Instead, the | | | | there is a direct correlation between the size of the |
| nation's concentration has shifted to preoccupation | | | | cars that we drive, the size of our homes and |
| with speed such as the 24/7 IM (instant messaging) | | | | elevators, and the amount of food that we eat. |
| mentality where one is nearly always accessible. I find | | | | Everything is just too large and reflects a nation out of |
| it deplorable that people talk on their cell phones at a | | | | touch with itself. We need to make the experience of |
| restaurant instead of enjoying their meal and a good | | | | eating and the quality of our food a priority over the |
| conversation. | | | | emphasis on speed and the misplaced desire for more. |