Implementing the Slow Life in Southwest Ireland: A Case Study of Clonakilty and Local Food

Abstract

Cittaslow is an Italian‐based global network of towns and cities that grew out of the Slow Food movement. Cittaslow and Slow Food reject the standardization of culture and taste that has accompanied globalization. Instead, they focus on strategies that foster a sense of place that is derived from a town's unique environmental and cultural setting: its terroir. Clonakilty, a small town located thirty miles southwest of Cork, is Ireland's first and only “slow city.” This paper examines how a sense of place is conveyed in the town's restaurants through the selection of menu items and locally produced food. The results indicate that independently owned restaurants are more likely to embrace Cittaslow's efforts at conveying a sense of place than restaurants in hotels and pubs. Nearly all of the town's restaurants serving Irish food use locally available food suppliers.

Key words:

• Cittaslow
• Clonakilty
• Slow Food
• West Cork

Notes

1. Local‐food activity is defined in terms of the local‐food producers listed in The Bridgestone Irish Food Guide, organic producers listed by Irish Organic Farmers and Growers and the Organic Trust, Farmers’ Markets listed by Bord Bia, Country Markets and restaurants/cafés listed by Bridgestone Guides, and Good Food Ireland (Ricketts Hein and Watts 2010).