Slow Food Nation

mamamich — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 11:02:42 -0500

Thanks Green Bean!

I am glad that we both got to attend such an inspiring event. When I got home, I even considered planting some sort of veggie garden in my bathtub! We never use it (too big and would take too much water to fill!) and it gets some of the best light in the house. Maybe that would be taking it too far...

Michelle

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Do It In the Road

Green Bean Dreams — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 10:56:17 -0500

That was the message I got from Slow Food Nation. That and my last year of planting edible gardens in the front yard. Why not? I've gotten to know my neighbors, met and made a number of friends, watched through my front window as the seasons have come and gone (toads in the spring, squirrels scaling sunflowers in the summer) and had some really delicious food.

I too went to Slow Food Nation and came away with the desire to garden even more. To invest even more in good, clean, fair food.

Green Bean

www.greenbeandreams.blogspot.com

Slow Food Nation - I Went. I Ate.

mamamich — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:15:34 -0500

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The
perks of living in the SF Bay Area are endless. Yesterday, we rode our
bikes to an art festival, and today I rode the bus to Slow Food Nation
in San Francisco. Just to get in the mood, on the way there I listened
to a podcast of the How We Eat series from the Commonwealth Club. With each passing mile, I heard more about the Slow Food Movement from Alice Waters, Eric Schlosser and others, and got increasingly excited.

In a nutshell, the Slow Food movement embraces foods that are produced in a way that is Good, Clean and Fair. The word good
can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. For Slow Food, the idea of
good means enjoying delicious food created with care from healthy
plants and animals. The pleasures of good food can also help to build
community and celebrate culture and regional diversity. When we talk
about clean food, we are talking about nutritious
food that is as good for the planet as it is for our bodies. It is
grown and harvested with methods that have a positive impact on our
local ecosystems and promotes biodiversity. We believe that food is a
universal right. Food that is fair should be
accessible to all, regardless of income, and produced by people who are
treated with dignity and justly compensated for their labor. In our
current world, weighed down by the overwhelming rise in obesity, it is
clear why we need a whole movement to reverse the trend.

After
disembarking from the bus, I was greeted by the wonderful aroma of
cooking food and was immediately swept into a crowd of people, all
looking for something delicious to taste. While I was certainly lured
to the Slow on the Go vendors, I enjoyed spending time in the Victory Garden,
an edible and ornamental garden that was temporarily planted in front
of San Francisco’s City Hall. Since the garden’s installation in the
beginning of July, over 150 pounds of produce has been harvested and
donated to those in need.

It
is interesting to think of how few people now cultivate edible gardens,
when not so long ago they were a means of food production for so many
Americans. These beautiful gardens, designed in rings, flanked by
burlap stuffed with rice straw, were an inspiration to me. While I am
proud of my herb pots and productive sun gold tomato plants, I see how
we can easily grow more of our own food at home. Nothing beats a
tomato, still warm from the sun…Or a crisp bean, plucked from a runner
along the back fence. Okay - I am sold. Even though I buy the bulk of
my produce from local growers at our farmer’s market, imagine reducing
my food miles even further…to food-feet? Something for my kids and I to
chew on.

Stay tuned for more about my experiences at the Slow Food Nation…

BlogHer - Slow Food Nation - I Went. I Ate. - Comments

Slow Food Nation

Do It In the Road

Slow Food Nation - I Went. I Ate.