Slow Food

San Francisco To Host Slow Food

Part agricultural, fair, part political rally, the three day event in San Francisco this weekend is the Slow Food movement's first big festival aimed at a larger audience. It is expected to draw 50,000 visitors on the west coast to sample artisan foods, tap their toes to name brands and hear arguments for a new national food policy.

Slow Food is an international organization founded in Italy nearly two decades ago by activist Carl Petrini who was outraged by the opening of a McDonald's in Rome's Piazza di Spagna. The name was chosen as the antithesis of fast food and the initial goals were to save the traditional foods, support small farmers and artisans, and preserve the pleasures of the table. More recently the group has simplified its message to "good, clean and fair food" for all.

The fair is being hosted by Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse, a very popular restaurant in Berkley CA known for the selections which change daily according to fresh local fare. Nouvelle cuisine was a term originated in her restaurant.

Ms. Waters believes "good, pure, affordable, wholesome food should be available to everybody and it should be a right, not a privilege".

I especially like the goal of the founding group, "the pleasures of the table". What is better than a nice meal at a table and the camraderie of family and friends.

Locavore: a term for people who try to eat only food grown or produced within a 100 mile radius. In the 2007 Oxford New American Dictionary, it was the word of the year.