In the 21st century, people are moving at the speed of light, and these days, food is moving just as fast.
The grand opening of the Phoenix Public Market Urban Grocery and Wine Bar is trying the slow and steady method, bringing locally grown food along with advocates of the sweeping Slow Food Movement, a back to basics approach to food.
“The idea is to have a variety and support local vendors,” said Nathan Logan, manager of the Phoenix Public Market Urban Grocery and Wine Bar. “About 90 to 95 percent is from Arizona. We had to go outside that for staples like rice, flour, sugar.”
The store functions as a more permanent extension of the Farmer’s Market held in the parking lot on the corner of North Central Avenue and East McKinley Street every Wednesday night and Saturday morning and now offers loyal customers the option to shop on their own time.
Customers like Diana Hayes, a teacher at Legacy Classical Christian Academy, shop the market because of the healthy and naturally prepared foods that coincide with the Slow Food Movement.
“My daughter, she is a chef here at the market,” Hayes said. “She went to school and really got into the Slow Food Movement. She’s definitely rubbed off on me.”
Started as a way to combat fast food in Rome, the Slow Food Movement has swept across Europe and is slowly staking itself into American lifestyles.
“It’s getting back to the basics and eating foods in season,” Hayes said. “It’s very minimal cooking. It’s enjoying foods the way they are meant to be.”
The movement claims that we, as an advanced society, live ‘fast lives,’ and have learned to live on fried, dyed and otherwise unnatural foods. Folco Portinari, the movement’s originator, has a vision to change that.
“With Slow Food, the way it’s meant to be prepared, it takes time,” Hayes said.
Slow Foods are locally grown and all natural. They are produced in a clean way, meaning no pesticides for crops and animals used for meat are fed natural ingredients.
Hayes grew up in small-town Ohio and is a fan of the market for its health as well as nostalgic reasons.
“I grew up on fresh vegetables and meats,” she said. “My dad was a butcher for other people; we always had corn and fresh eggs. It takes me back home.”
The market has that home-y feel inspired by classic corner stores from a time before Wal-Mart or Target.
“Before supermarkets there used to be little grocery stores, like this,” Hayes said.
Logan said it is the natural foods that bring people back.
“I love the chicken and the heirloom vegetables,” Logan said. “Actually, I love the vegetables; it reminds me of when I was a kid.”
Market vendors and customers alike are looking forward to the new social hub expected to form around the more permanent settlement.
“It creates a sense of community; that they are supporting their own,” Logan said.
Contact the reporter at ldisanti@asu.edu
