The name “slow food” movement might suggest a campaign to eat slow animals or cook food slowly, but its goals are quite different, as Jeff Honeycutt, an executive chef, explained at the Alachua County Headquarters Library this past weekend.
Honeycutt, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando, presented information on North Central Florida’s slow food scene Sunday.
Slow foods are locally grown, in-season foods that are environmentally sustainable, as opposed to processed foods, he said.
“The idea is to let things grow the way they’re supposed to grow within their season,” Honeycutt said.
Honeycutt said he discovered slow foods in 2003 while working at the restaurant Chew, where farmers came in with fresh ingredients.
He said he thought it was the coolest thing in the world.
“I was in it for the long-haul then,” he said.
Fiona Lama, an Alachua County Headquarters library specialist and a professor at Santa Fe College, said she was unaware of the slow food movement until she had Honeycutt as a student last year.
Lama said she is more interested in buying slow foods after attending Honeycutt’s presentation.
“It makes you feel like it’s a good idea to be more health-conscious with your food choices,” the 52-year-old said.
Honeycutt said college students interested in getting involved with the movement should learn how to cook, and by using basic, natural ingredients, slow foods cost less than processed foods.
“I did not come out of the womb knowing how to do that,” he said.
Honeycutt currently studies at Santa Fe and plans to attend UF to complete a degree in geomatics.
