To inaugurate a series of monthly columns from Cittaslow Sonoma Valley, we asked Virginia Hubbell, the organization’s founders, a few questions. Over the next few months Virginia and the Cittaslow team will take Sun readers on a tour of our Valley. From bees to organic local honey ice cream, a long table dinner in a garden, colorful characters and a history of Sonoma to storytelling for kids and adults, slow international food feasts and how to save local food crops from extinction, dry farming and more, the Cittaslow folks will show our lives from a different perspective. But first, let’s discover a bit more about this thing called Cittaslow.
Sun: Who are you?
VH: I’m Virginia Hubbell, a resident of Sonoma for the past thirty years. It was my dream to bring Cittaslow from Italy to Sonoma Valley. After five years of legwork, Cittaslow Sonoma Valley burst onto the local scene with a big community celebration in January 2010 when Sonoma became the first Cittaslow in the USA.
Sun: What does Cittaslow mean?
VH: “Cittá” means city in Italian. It sounds like “cheetah,” like that fast cat. And you know what “slow” means. It’s about time! Slow time, good quality of life time. Cittaslow means Slow City.
Sun: Who started Cittaslow? What was their vision?
VH: The mayor of our sister city, Greve in Chianti, started Cittaslow with the mayors of three other small Italian towns. Their vision was to retain each of their community’s small town identity and character. They were up against the big guys. They created a set of criteria for their towns that was focused on quality of life and sustainability.
Sun: Why did it start?
VH: As happens in lots of towns around the world, when a big multi-national corporation targets your community, citizens wage a hard fought battle to save the identity of their neighborhoods. That’s what happened in Greve. One of the “big box” stores decided that their Plaza (same size as Sonoma Plaza) was the next resting place for their store. The mayor knew that if that happened, their town would be forever changed. It would become the same as so many towns across the country, no differences, no sense of place. Other mayors joined in, rebelled, and created Cittaslow to combat that sameness.
Sun: How long has Cittaslow been around?
VH: Cittaslow started ten years ago in 2000. The movement has grown very quickly. From those first four cities in Italy, Cittaslow now is in 135 towns and 20 countries around the world.
Sun: What about Slow Food? Is Cittaslow the same as Slow Food?
VH: Although Cittaslow and Slow Food are very connected to one another, the are actually two separate organizations that like to collaborate. Each was born out of the same philosophy, and from the same vision, of the same father. The founder of Slow Food, Carlo Petrini, started Slow Food twenty years ago when McDonald’s decided to build in the main Piazza in Rome. He said, “No way!” and created Slow Food to combat the fast food industry. Ten years later, the four mayors faced a similar struggle within their communities and created Cittaslow.
Sun: How are Cittaslow and Slow Food the same? How are they different?
VH: Both work at local, national, and international levels. They are connected in their missions of “good, clean, and fair biodiversity.” For Cittaslow, that means the entire community should have equal access to a good quality of life and that each neighborhood has the right to maintain their own individual character and personality. While Slow Food is specifically about food, Cittaslow is about the broad rainbow of those things that make up a town including environmental policies, infrastructure, cultural programs, historic preservation, recreation, family activities, and yes, food, too. Cittaslow weaves food issues into other issues that touch our neighborhoods. Cittaslow is all the things we care about deeply in Sonoma.
In next month’s column Virginia and her team will answer questions like: What’s up with that snail logo? What do Cittaslow towns actually do? How do I get involved?
Coming soon: Watch for news of two important projects! Cittaslow’s “Pollinator Pals” project will launch September 26 on Cittaslow SunDay. Bees will not go extinct in Sonoma Valley, thanks to El Verano School fifth graders, their inspired teacher, and the collaborative work of dedicated community members linked together by Cittaslow’s concern for the environment and protection of local food production. And, Cittaslow’s collaborative fundraiser with the Sonoma Ecology Center will take place October 8. Watch for news of a beautiful Tuscan dinner in the Sonoma Garden Park celebrating La Bella Vita a Sonoma – The Beautiful Life of Sonoma!
For more information: info@cittaslowsonomavalley.org or visit www.cittaslowsonomavalley.org.
