Blog Post #4: The Italian Food Philosophy

No matter how much importance Italians put on traditional meals, they cannot the growing number of fast-food chains in the country like McDonalds and Burger King. When you go to Italy, the people there are very proud of their culture but still some are starting to change their eating habits and lifestyles.

Regarding the Italian food philosophy, I stumbled upon this article entitled " Revolution-Italian Style: Fighting to keep the Italian food-philosophy relevant " by Federica Poletti.

Food occupies an irreplaceable and vital part of the Italian way of life. However, with the increase in the number of fast-food chains, change was inevitable. Therefore, Italians came up with their own ways to preserve their philosophy of eating. It is commonly known that the most famous Italian creation is its cuisine. Italian food is not like any other. It is equals to quality, incredible taste and absolute freshness. Italians take their culture very seriously and they protect it in their everyday life. Thus, they make an effort to keep traditions as alive as possible and consider family recipes and cooking secrets as treasures.

I have seen the falling down of the Italian food in the country itself because of fast-food chains. Italians are stepping up to keep their food philosophy relevant. They are open to change as long as it doesn't bring a different influence on the culture itself.

" Italian cuisine is affected too by the globalization of taste and lifestyle, and its people are forgetting the good old times. ", said Federica Poletti.

One of the things that Italians have to preserve their food philosophy is to keep Starbucks away from the country. There are literally zero Starbucks branches in the country. This shows how much proud Italians are of their coffee and their culture, in general. This blog post entitled " Why We Don't Have Starbucks in Italy " by Paul Gervais de Bedee explains the reason behind the absence of Starbucks.

The main reason why Starbucks doesn't have a store in Italy is that Italian coffee bar is sort of a sacred place in Italy. It is daily life for many Italians and it always has been. There's nothing pretentious or snobbish about it. Italians just consider coffee a pure indulgence and Starbucks' drinks will definitely be rejected by lots of people. 

For me, even though I am huge fan of Starbucks, it is better this way. Italy gets to preserve its culture and Starbucks knows it is wise just to stay away. I definitely think that the Philippines should go to the same direction like Italy. If there is something real important in our country, it has protected in all fronts, even if that brings to banning a company.

" No one here wants their coffee in a styrofoam or paper cup. And the size is important. It must be small. When it's small you taste the coffee. It must be of a temperature that's ready to drink—Italians won't stand there and stir their cup cool with a narrow plastic stick for ten minutes. Even a caffe latte is small—little more than twice the amount of milk of a cappuccino. The Starbucks item called a "venti" does not exist and Italians can't help but chuckle when they see it. ", said Paul Gervais de Bedee.

In conclusion, despite the increase of fast-food chains in the Italy, Italians still remain faithful to their local restaurants because that is how proud and protective they are of their culture. I think other countries like the Philippines should do it as well to preserve the unique features in our country.