Eco-gastronomy = a recognition of the strong connections between plate and planet. Both of these movements fall into the latter:
The Slow Food movement was born of a reaction to fast food and fast life. And, not least, the belief that the enjoyment of excellent food and drink should be combined with efforts to save the countless traditional grains, vegetables, fruits, animal breeds and food products that are disappearing due to the prevalence of convenience food and industrial agribusiness. They have this cool thing called "Taste Education", a bunch of classes basically that help people to "rediscover the joys of eating and understand the importance of caring where their food comes from, who makes it and how it’s made". And I guess, to shop seasonally and locally, and eat slow. Neat.
Raw foodism promotes a diet consisting primarily of uncooked or at unheated (above 104/40 degrees) food. It is possible to have a raw animal food diet, however you're looking at raw oysters, steak tartare, sashimi and pickled fish....forget your boneless, skinless chicken breast, because that's out of the question. Mainly you're looking at lots of fruit and vegetables, and grains, nuts and berries. The benefits are touted to be higher nutrient content, better digestion (due to digestive enzymes contained in raw food), and a better immune system (due to bacteria which would otherwise be killed off by heat). In addition to higher energy levels, slower aging effects, less probability of degenerative diseases, and enhanced emotional stability. Mel Gibson and Uma Thurman are apparently pretty into it, but N.B.: after an extreme bout with this stuff, Gwyneth Paltrow became the poster child for orthorexia.
