It all started with Condoleezza Rice.
This happened about twenty years ago. Paula and I were hosting a dinner party at our then-home in the Twin Cities. Ed arrived first and we were visiting while I tended to last minute details.
Ed, a retired college president, mentioned having met Rice, then Secretary of State, when she was only 18 months old. Bounced her on his knee. Wow, good anecdote. I suppose I attempted some feeble volley about encountering SOMEBODY famous, I can’t recall who. Robert Redford? Maybe Linus Pauling… recipient of two Nobel Prizes.
Suddenly, the two of us are off on a one-upmanship romp, which even then, I knew I’d lose. With a glorious twinkle in his eye, Ed appeared impressed when I cited my Hubert Humphrey encounters. But he bested me easily with a “so then, I told Lyndon Johnson…” tale. My two Jimmy Carter conversations and a twenty-minute one-on-one with Walter Mondale simply weren’t enough.
I gamely tried sports. “Have I told you my Killebrew story? How about my chat with Kirby Puckett?” Then, the doorbell rang; playtime was over. But Ed had held the ULTIMATE card in reserve. I start toward the door as he calmly mentions his private audience with the Pope. Game, set, match! Who can top the Pope?
I’ve mused about this episode numerous times in recent years. Ed has passed away, as have several guests from that evening. Triggering a fresh wave of memories, however, was a Facebook post about a year ago, a photo of Tunda, a longtime staff member of “Ngong Road Children’s Foundation,” (ngongroad.org) an organization Paula founded in Nairobi, Kenya in 2006. And who’s that distinguished fellow with his hand on her head, blessing this wonderful woman? Why, it’s Pope Francis!
An Indigenous Maasai woman, Tunda Lepore’s official title is Post-Secondary Senior Case Manager. During her childhood, Tunda resisted strong pressure to conform to many of her community’s beliefs and practices, an experience that inspired her career to help children. I see in her blessing photo caption that Tunda is also part of the Slow Food movement (in contrast with society’s more pervasive “Fast Food” culture).
According to ANSA, Italy’s leading news agency, after meeting with the Indigenous Peoples Forum, Pope Francis pointed out the importance of indigenous peoples in fighting climate change. “We should listen more to Indigenous Peoples and learn from their way of life, to properly understand that we cannot continue to greedily devour natural resources, because Earth was entrusted to us… capable of giving to each one what is necessary to live. The contribution of Indigenous Peoples is essential in the fight against climate change. Valuing Indigenous People’s cultural heritage and their ancestral techniques will help (us) embark on paths for better environmental management.”
I knew nothing about the Slow Food movement until prompted by Tunda’s photo. The movement began in Italy almost four decades ago by people opposed to McDonald’s moving into a Rome tourist site, near the Spanish steps, creating what would then be the world’s largest McDonald’s, seating for 450. Push back wasn’t merely reacting to the size, however, but also to mass production practices of the fast-food industry.
Brief overview: The Slow Food movement (slowfood.com) is defined by three interconnected principles, good, clean, and fair. GOOD: high-quality, flavorful, healthy food; CLEAN: production without environmental damage; FAIR: affordable prices for consumers, fair pay/conditions for producers. The movement emphasizes locally sourced ingredients and regional traditions, preferring “homegrown culture” over homogeneous menus. There are an estimated 1,300 Slow Food chapters worldwide today. It’s hard to estimate the number of members. One source indicates 100,000; another says the movement “reaches a million people”. Chapter goals and practices are determined by each location and its membership.
My friend Ed is no longer with us. Ah, but if he were, I’d counter his Pope claim with a brag of my own. “I know Pope Francis’s dear friend, Tunda Lepore, whose example convinced me to learn about the Slow Food movement… and to inform others about it. Good luck beating that!”
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I pleased to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. These are my colleagues: