A Tale of 'Whoa!'

The most organized wing of the slow wave is the slow-food initiative -- a backlash against fast food -- that began in Italy in the mid-1980s.

Founded by Carlo Petrini, the movement battles against gustatory standardization and tastelessness. It encourages people to grow and eat sustainable foods, to take sensual pleasure in preparing food and eating it, and to eat foods that are healthful. And it supports biodiversity. Through its Web site, www.slowfood.com,the group brags about its 80,000 members in more than 100 countries.

Here is an excerpt from its manifesto, adopted in 1989: "We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Foods. . . .

"May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency."

Marsha Weiner, 51, a freelance writer and producer in Alexandria, is a slow-food advocate. She has been chewing on the idea for five years.

The local convivium, as a slow-food cadre is called, holds events once a month. "People like company," she says. "We're social animals."

She adds: "We've had three weddings in our convivium."

Today, the group is having a dinner at 15 ria, a restaurant on Rhode Island Avenue NW, to raise money for the youth garden that's on the grounds of the National Arboretum.

Asked how slow food has changed her life, Weiner says that on the downside, it has "created a certain amount of domestic dissension" between her and her partner, who thinks Weiner does too much volunteer work. On the upside, she says, "We've made great friends. It's been a wonderful social network."

The Pace of Technology

When we catch up by cell phone with John Robinson, the University of Maryland sociologist who specializes in the various ways Americans use time, he's soaking up the slow life in Napa Valley.

"This is one of the laid-back capitals of the universe," he says of Calistoga, a town of massages and mud baths. He also enjoys visiting nearby Copia, a wine and food mecca for those who go slow.

Robinson needs to get away from Washington's whirl-a-gig lifestyle. "Technology is speeding up everything," he says. "The temptation is to take advantage of that." But he believes we have to stop and take time to appreciate the finer things in life. He is a slow-food enthusiast, for instance.

In his studies, Robinson has found that Americans feel like they have more free time than ever, but that they also feel rushed during those periods. Like Honore, Robinson believes that many people who feel stressed by the increased pace of life have squandered much of their free time watching television. Idle Americans increasingly tune in to "American Idol."

And he cites the work of a German sociologist who predicts that the world is going to keep speeding up. "There is the danger," Robinson says, "that life for people will be a series of 'been theres' and 'done thats.' "

Various slow movements are arising, he says, because "it's pretty hard to go against the grain." Birds of a feather are flocking slowly together.

Going for the Slow Burn

Some people are even exercising more slowly.