Food Systems
How might the slow food movement help us eat more sustainably?
Why Italy?
Italy is the birthplace of some of the world’s most famous dishes. But Italian food is more than just the food itself—it’s also history, land, and community.
The Italian-born Slow Food movement evolved out of concerns that regional cooking traditions, and the culture they foster, could slip away in the face of a growing global fast food industry. Emphasizing farm-to-table systems not only preserves multi-generational practices and local communities, it also prioritizes more universal issues like health and sustainability.
On this program we will explore how connecting with tradition can also mean that the environment is kept cleaner, workers are treated more fairly, and customers know where their food is coming from. We’ll also consider what lessons the world can learn from this movement - how can we make our own local food systems more sustainable? Will understanding Slow Food change the way we eat at home?
INSIGHTS + PROJECTS
On every Atlas Workshops program, the group works on an inquiry with real-world implications. Through intentional exploration, engagement with locals and experts, and team activities, students generate new insights and ideas about the topics, places, and global issues they’re investigating.
For some groups, the program incorporates a more extensive project—an opportunity to apply our learning and stretch our creative thinking by making something tangible or public.
We work to share the ideas and inspiration we find in the world, with the world, through collaborative initiatives and student expression. We can also work with you to develop a custom project or publish students’ insights via exhibition, photography, digital or print media, or other format.
Suggested Itinerary
Students will investigate the project question by getting to know Italy as a place, along with the people who live there, tinkering with ideas together to apply what they are learning, and sharing reflections, insights, and aha moments with others.
Redefining Old and New: 0-3 Nights
Rome, Italy
Discover Rome to gain an understanding of Italian history and identity by visiting ancient and renaissance sites. Taste fresh gelato on the Spanish Steps and pass the McDonald’s that inspired the Slow Food movement in the 1980s. This modern capital offers a thorough introduction to daily life and culture in the country.
Regional Cooking and Iconic Cuisine: 0-3 Nights
Pompeii, Italy
Travel to Pompeii, famous for its volcanic landscape that defines the farming in the region and produces incredible home-grown tomatoes. We will visit the archaeological site, taste the incredible Napolitano pizza, learn how Bufala mozzarella is made, and maybe even stay at an old seaside monastery.
Farm to Table Experience: 0-3 Nights
Calabria, Italy
Explore the sun-baked region of Calabria, the “toe of Italy’s boot,” where we will have the opportunity to live on a farm. We’ll meet local chefs and make pasta with grain grown right out our window. Together we’ll prepare a meal cooked entirely with ingredients that are sourced from a one kilometer radius. We’ll then end our program reflecting on how our experience in Italy might inspire new thinking about what, and how, we eat back home.
Want to Learn More?
Custom Programs & Modifications
We have designed this itinerary to maximize the value and breadth of our project and program. We can modify any program, or we can plan an entirely custom program. This itinerary could be adapted to focus on more specific learning outcomes, visit different regions, hit a different price point, combine with another program, or cover a longer or shorter schedule based on the group’s needs.
Continue Exploring
You can also check out other programs in Italy, request a custom program, or explore other related programs here:
