Welcome

SLOW MADE: TAKE IT EASY

By Dale Dougherty

THIS MAGAZINE EXPLORES NOT JUST Lately I’ve been learning about the Slow Food

how to make things but also why. Why make movement, which developed in Italy as a response

things when you can buy them? Why spend to fast food. In short, they advocate wholesome,

hours on a project when you could be doing some- local food over processed food with dubious ingre-

thing else? Why? dients and obscure origins. They want to develop

I often reference cooking when explaining why peo- alternatives to the industrial system of food produc-

ple make things. I love to cook and grow my own food. tion and distribution, which is optimized for speed

Food is such a basic need that all of us have to figure it and efficiency. The Slow Food movement encourages

out on a daily basis. We become food makers. us to slow down, enjoy the simple pleasures of life,

Cooking is not something everyone likes to do, and make connections to real people creating real

I realize. Two people can view this same activity very food. It’s good for you, good for your community,

differently, one as the worst kind of drudgery and the and good for the Earth.

other as the practice of something like an art form. At the heart of the Slow Food movement are local

The former wants as little hands-on involvement farmers’ markets. These markets have become the

as possible, while the latter sees multiple ways to hub for locally produced food. However, the Slow

enhance his or her own pleasure and enjoyment. Food movement wants us not just to become better

One’s level of engagement makes all the difference. consumers of food, but also to see ourselves as

If you want to cook well, you’ll be willing to learn about co-producers. It’s a higher level of engagement. If

cooking from books, from friends, and from eating we become more involved in the process of bringing

out. You’ll become better with practice and challenge food to our table, then we can have a positive impact

yourself by trying out new recipes. You’ll also fail now on the local environment as well as the local economy.

and then, but you’ll enjoy the process as you discover I see makers, too, exploring alternatives to what

new ways of creating meals that you really enjoy. the consumer culture has to offer. DIY is essentially

Moreover, you don’t have to aim to become a profes- the slow way. To do it your own way allows you to

sional chef. Being a good everyday cook is rewarding optimize for values that are important to you. You

if you can satisfy family and friends. can choose to put fun, coolness, or pride of crafts-

Simon Hopkinson writes in his cookbook Roast manship ahead of efficiency. It’s the sum of these

Chicken and Other Stories that good cooking very personal choices that makes the work of an

“depends on common sense and good taste.” He artist or craftsperson unique.

says cooking is “a craft, after all, like anything that I’d like to propose using slow made to identify

is produced with the hands and senses to put the work of makers. A slow-made object is created

together an attractive and complete picture.” when a maker guides the process by making per-

MAKE is about creating that kind of picture using sonal choices. Slow made is like handmade but

the technology at hand (and in this issue, sleight of allows for using machines to make things. Slow

hand). There are plenty of DIY magazines for cooks, made values the creative effort — a combination

woodworkers, and gardeners. But until MAKE, it had of manual and mental processes — that generates

been decades since there was a true DIY magazine something new. Whether it’s building things from

for technology enthusiasts. Our mission is to help scratch or from a kit, or taking an idea all the way

anyone become a better everyday maker. from design through build, we shift from consumer

We recently signed with Twin Cities Public Television to producer. I can imagine makers’ markets that fea-

(TPT) to create a Make: TV program for PBS. I envi- ture slow-made goods from local makers. We could

sion it fitting in with cooking programs such as Julia all become more connected to the things in our lives

Child’s or woodworking shows like The New Yankee and to the real people who make them. Why not?

Workshop. The goal of Make: TV is to show how to

make things yourself and share them with others. Dale Dougherty is editor and publisher of MAKE and CRAFT.

10 Make: Volume 13