The video for the the closing panel moderated by Corby Kummer is embedded below. Featuring Wendell Berry, Carlo Petrini, Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Alice Waters, and Vandana Shiva, the all-star discussion is notable not only for the quality of its content but for the enthusiasm and passion demonstrated by the participants. Whether you’re new to Slow Food or a long-time member or supporter, this video is a must-see discussion of the Good, Clean, and Fair philosophy that is the foundation of Slow Food.

Additional videos of panel discussions are available and include:

• A New, Fair Food System, moderated by Eric Schlosser, focuses on “current conditions and the future potential for the millions of men and women who harvest and process the food we eat every day.” As interest for animal rights broadens, Schlosser and the panelists urge attention to the human rights of the farmworkers, many of whom labor under dangerous conditions.
• Building a New Food System: Policy and Planning, moderated by Timothy LaSalle of the Rodale Institute, examines the first steps that governments (municipal, state, and federal) can take to support and build a sustainable food system.
• Climate Change and Food panelists discuss the “importance of land stewardship, biodiversity, urban planning” and more, including how climate change affects our food system.
• Katrina Heron, a director of the Chez Panisse Foundation and a member of the board of Slow Food Nation, moderated the panel on Edible Education. Participants included Alice Waters, Josh Viertel, Tony Recasner (head of Green Charter and New Orleans Charter Middle Schools), Van Jones (founder and president of Green for All), and Craig McNamara (president and founder at the Center for Land-Based Learning), and the discussion focused on the “potential and challenges of creating a national policy around edible education–a means of educating all children about stewardship, sustainability, and the connections between food, health, and the environment.”
• Re-Localizing Food panelists explored “the challenges of building a local food system and compared the environmental and social impacts of both a local and global approach to food.” Michael Pollan, Dan Barber, Gary Nabhan (found of the RAFT alliance), and Winona LaDuke (founding director of the White Earth Land Recovery Project) discuss the environmental and social impacts of both a local and global approach to food, and their conversation was moderated by James Oseland of Saveur.
• Vandana Shiva, Carlo Petrini, Raj Patel, and Corby Kummer discuss The World Food Crisis: “The impact of the industrial food production system that has left communities worldwide in the grip of hunger and dire food shortages.”

All videos can be viewed on the Slow Food Nation site.

Moved by Carlo Petrini’s observation at Slow Food Nation that “refrigerators are our tombs,” one of Emily’s recent posts addressed the issue of waste, and how our awareness of waste and our efforts to minimize it are steps everyone can take to counteract overconsumption. You can read Emily’s observations online, and also find links to related articles on The Kitchn.

Also online are Emily’s photos from Slow Food Nation that capture a cross-section of the event.
Our thanks to Emily for sharing her comments and photos, and we look forward to future installments of the Conscientious Cook!

Edited by Katrina Heron and enhanced with photography by Jenny Elia Pfeiffer, Emily Nathan, and Kim Westerman, Come to the Table will be of particular interest to members and friends of Slow Food chapters throughout California. It offers examples of Slow Food principles in action at a dozen California farms and includes insights from and interviews with farmers including Jim Churchill, known to Slow Food Los Angeles and Ojai members and friends for his Pixie tangerines.

More information about the contributors to the book and the profiled farmers is available on the Slow Food Nation website; copies of the book are now available in bookstores and via Amazon.com.

Slow Food Nation was inspiring and I am still on cloud 9, floating with hope, one full week later! I participated in many of the youth events including the retreat at Slide Ranch and the Eat-in at Dolores Park. The Eat-in was particularly powerful– we formed small cooking teams and prepared simple dishes with produce donated from local farms. Then we shared these dishes at a beautiful table set for 250 in the middle of the park. The spirit of community and enthusiasm was palpable. We were able to build a youth contingent and discuss potential collaborations and steps for involving more youth in the movement.

In addition to the youth events, the larger program, involving a public garden symbolically planted in front of city hall, a professional conference, tasting pavilions, and panel discussions, was comprehensive and phenomenally done. The panel discussion with Alice Waters, Michael Pollan, Wendell Berry, Carlo Petrini, Vandana Shiva, and Eric Schlosser left me speechless — these leaders, who could be called the heavy hitters in the field, were so humble and gracefully insightful — the predominant themes that emerged from their comments were the urgent need for social justice, the importance of interdependence, and the rejection of consumerism. The first steps to take toward these goals are to plant a garden, wherever possible, and to meet your neighbors!

I feel recharged and inspired to convey this message here in Los Angeles!

For more information about the purpose and goals of the Eat-In, which was the result of cooperation between Slow Food Nation and Outstanding in the Field, you can learn more on the Slow Food Nation site.

Today’s comments were submitted by Louise Woo of South Pasadena, who wrote:

Hi Slow Food LA!

We had the honor of attending Slow Food Nation, including a day at the Taste Marketplace at Fort Mason, the opening plenary panel on “The World Food Crisis” and two dinners benefitting The Institute for Fisheries Resources and The California Food and Justice Coalition.

It was an amazing three-day extravaganza and we (members from L.A., Palm Springs and Oakland) are already eager to find out when and where the next USA conference will be held.  I wish we could attend Terra Madre in Turin this year, but alas we’ll have to try for 2010 instead.

We loved the Taste Marketplace held at Fort Mason over the weekend and were mightily impressed by the cheese-makers, fishermen and poultry and pork farmers who brought samples of their product from all over the continental U.S..  

But I think the highlight of our weekend was the Friday night dinner at Hayes Street Grill, a benefit for The Institute for Fisheries Resources which featured two of the fisherman who caught the fish for our meal!

Capt. Mike McCorckle brought us some lovely California white sea bass and Capt. Josh Churchman brought in some indescribably tender black cod, both served up expertly by Chef Rob Zaborny and the Hayes Street staff.  Both captains gave a short talk, showing us pictures of their boats and explained some of the challenges faced by California fisherman today.

Afterwards, they made the rounds of guests’ tables and chatted with us about their work and lives.  It was very touching for us to have a conversation with two of the people who work so hard to bring us the food we barely think twice about.

Our second dinner, Saturday night at Marketbar in the Ferry Plaza, featured an astounding (count ‘em) 13 course/dish tapas meal with locally-grown padrone peppers, melons, tomatoes, black olives, beats, arugula, corn, chard, yellow Romano beans, carrots and nectarines!   Every dish was delicious and they just kept coming and coming and coming!

Thanks, Louise; and thanks to others who submitted comments. We’ll have more to share in the coming days…

The movement to create a healthier food and agriculture policy in the U.S. has been slowly and steadily gaining ground for well over a decade. Those all around the nation who began the work are encouraged by the progress and simultaneously concerned by the pace of change given the disproportionate impact of food and agriculture on personal and planetary health.

The public’s increasing interest and the media’s deepening coverage of climate change, energy, agriculture, rural poverty, labor issues, food costs, food quality, and obesity may finally illuminate the interrelationship of these crises and provide a context for urgently needed changes, which are clearly possible.

The Declaration is meant to provide:

1. A clear statement of what kind of policy is needed now, endorsed by a broad base of organizations and individuals with a long-established commitment to a healthier food and agriculture;
2. An invitation to join in the improvement effort by taking action in their own lives and communities and by offering them a way to call on policymakers to support comprehensive change; and
3. A set of principles from which policy makers can craft policy that will lead to a healthier system.

As noted in the Declaration, “Our pursuit of healthy food and agriculture unites us as people and as communities, across geographic boundaries, and social and economic lines.” By endorsing the Declaration, Slow Food leaders, members, and friends are pledging their votes, their purchases, their creativity, and their energies to this urgent cause.

Visit the Food Declaration website to read the Declaration and to endorse it or comment on it. (The Declaration is also available as a downloadable form.)

• Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, talks about the need to consider the rights of workers who help bring the food from the farm to our plates.
• Considering the “fair” component of the “Good, Clean, Fair” Manifesto of Quality, “Farmworkers at the Table,” a report on labor rights discussion at Slow Food Nation convened by Schlosser.
• Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved, talks about the false sense of choice faced by food consumers.
• Chef Dan Barber talks about the inspiration he gleans from farms.
• Added September 15: Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, asks what happened to the promises of biotechnology, and offers a few answers about how science has fallen short of expectations.
• Added September 16: Anna Lappé, food activist and coauthor of Grub, talks about the connection between food and climate change.

Last week, San Francisco was host not only to the inaugural Slow Food Nation but also to Slow Food USA’s National Congress, a meeting of chapter leaders to discuss governance and organizational issues.

To coincide with the National Congress, Slow Food USA has revised–and revitalized–its website, and we encourage Slow Food Los Angeles members and friends to visit it for an overview of national programs and information and to bookmark it as a resource for information about Slow Food USA’s work.

In the coming days we’ll share news from and about Slow Food Nation, and we invite those who attended to share their comments with us. Slow Food Nation has also spurred media attention about Slow Food and issues related to good, clean, and fair food, and we’ll share links to those pieces, too.

And for those readers who have found Slow Food Los Angeles as a result of Slow Food Nation or related news items, welcome! Slow Food members and nonmembers alike are welcome to receive regular updates via your RSS reader of choice or to join our email list to receive news and announcements as they are posted to this site.

Currently available, via the CHOW website and iTunes, are podcast interviews with:

• Anya Fernald, Executive Director of Slow Food Nation;
• Andrew Barnett, owner of the Ecco Caffe and the Slow Food Nation Coffee curator;
• Casey Havre, owner of Loulou’s Garden and the Slow Food Nation Preserves curator;
• Michelle Fuerst, cooking instructor and the Slow Food Nation Pickles and Chutney curator; and
• Dave McLean, brewmaster and owner of Magnolia Pub & Brewery and Slow Food Nation Beer curator

CHOW promises additional stories, videos, and podcasts as the preparations continue, so be sure to subscribe to the podcast series in iTunes or bookmark the CHOW/Slow Food Nation page.

CHOW offers a network of information and resources for those passionate about food: growing it, preserving it, eating it… you name it, CHOW covers it. For more information visit CHOW’s home on the web.

Planted on the same site as a World War II-era garden in 1943, the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden features a a wide variety of heritage organic vegetables suited to the Bay Area microclimate. All food grown in the garden will be harvested and donated to those with limited access to healthy organic produce through Slow Food Nation’s partnership with local food banks and meals programs.
Amy Franceschini, the founder of Victory Gardens 2008+ and one of the coordinators of the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden, answers the question, what does a “victory” garden mean in 2008?

What do we want to be cultivating as urban farmers today? As you are well aware, “Victory,” for the WWI and WWII Victory Garden programs was “winning the war.” Winning the war by growing more food at home so that the nation could send more food overseas to support the war effort.

“Victory” for the Victory Garden 2008 program is independence from a food system whose values we do not support. “Victory” for the Victory Garden program is reducing the food miles associated with the average American meal by growing more food locally. “Victory” is building an alternative to the American industrial food system, which we view as injurious to ourselves, and to the planet. In this way we redefine Victory within the pressing context of urban sustainability, while building upon the previously successful Victory Garden model.

I had my reservations about keeping the name Victory Gardens, but it is something that people across a wide spectrum understand. If we are going to truly cultivate a large-scale food revolution it must be popular. The name gives us a chance to discuss gardening in a time of war. The problematics inherent in the title opens up space for conversation, like this one! If it were called “Happy Gardens” like one city official proposed, maybe we would be denying ourselves from looking at some of the darker realities associated with food policy.

(Read the complete interview on the Slow Food Nation site.)

For more comments on the Victory Garden and on the events of July 12, including some criticisms of the garden’s cost and questions about its stated goals see Marc R.’s excellent post on The Ethicurean (with photos). And for photos, information, and commentary about the development of the garden, visit the Victory Garden segment of the Slow Food Nation blog, which will have updates as the garden grows.

We’re looking forward to sharing more news about urban farming with Slow Food Los Angeles members and friends. As a counterpoint to the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden–visually and geographically–Slow Food member Carol Goldstein noted that readers interested in urban gardening may also be intrigued by the P.F.1 project that opened in Queens (NY) in late June. Built entirely from recycled materials, 100% solar powered, and irrigated with collected rainwater, P.F.1 aims to educate visitors about sustainable urban farming in the context of contemporary architecture. Don’t miss the time-lapse film of P.F.1′s construction: an excellent example of how a space can be transformed in less than a month. A bit of P.F.1′s history is also available in a New York Times article about the project.

This event will make a great day trip outside the city but you might also consider driving up the day before so you can enjoy the bay or eat in some of the great local restaurants such as the Station House or Manka’s Inverness Lodge.

Schedule:
9:30am: Leave SF for Marin; drive takes around an hour but the tour starts promptly so leave early or drive up the night before
11:00am: Meet up in Tomales Bay
11:30am: Tour of Cowgirl Creamery at Tomales Bay. Watch them make cheese, buy picnic provisions, take a walk around charming town, visit independent bookstore, Marin Sun Farm Butcher Store, etc. 
1:30pm: Leave Tomales Bay for Hog Island, drive takes around 30 minutes
2:00pm: Picnic area reserved at Hog Island Oyster Farm includes access to barbecue, shucking tools, and lemons. They will provide a quick overview of oyster shucking. You may purchase and shuck fresh oysters and eat them raw or grill them with garlic butter in the local style. Guests may bring any other picnic foods they wish, including beer and wine. The barbecue is essentially potluck but we will provide fire, grilling tools, condiments, plates, utensils, napkins, and cups as well as Marin Sun Farms weenies and buns. We encourage you to share. 
 
When: Friday, August 29, 2008 (schedule as noted above)
Where: Meet in Point Reyes Station at Cowgirl Creamery
Cost: $35.00 per person for adults; $20 per child under 12 years of age. Event limited to 20 people. Priority will be given to Slow Food members.

Attire/Precautions: Wear comfortable clothes, walking shoes, a hat, and sunscreen. If you intend to shuck oysters, consider bringing a shucking glove to protect your hand and/or your own tools. Maximum of four people per reservation. Please carpool if possible. Each child under 12 years of age must be accompanied by an adult. Porta potties are available.

Reservations: 
Email your reservation request to judibikel [at] aol [dot] com with the number in your party (adults + children) and the name of the Slow Food convivium to which you belong. Because of the strict space limits I will ask you to reconfirm after you’ve made your travel arrangements. Please also let me know if you are you interested in carpooling. Do you need space in a car? Do you have space in a car?

Held in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend, Slow Food Nation will bring together tens of thousands of people to experience activities highlighting the connection between plate and planet.

At the peak of harvest season, and on the eve of the Presidential election, Slow Food Nation will bring together local citizens and visitors, farmers and food artisans, political leaders, environmental advocates and health-care experts, community educators and artists. Participants will savor food from across the United States at Taste, a 50,000 square foot pavilion; meet farmers and producers at a marketplace surrounding a 10,000 square foot newly-planted urban garden in the heart of the city; learn from visionary speakers; and engage in political discourse to shape a more sustainable food system. Slow Food Nation will also feature a music festival, workshops, films, dinners, hikes and journeys.

Highlights include:
Taste:
When: Saturday, August 30, 11:00am until 3:00pm, 5:00pm until 9:00pm and Sunday, August 31, 11:00am until 3:00pm and 6:00pm until 9:00pm
Where: Fort Mason/Festival Pavilion
Cost: $45 – $65
Taste is Slow Food Nation’s grand celebration of good, clean and fair food from across the United States. In-depth taste workshops and hands-on experiences with quality, process and distinguishing flavor factors will connect visitors with the origins and true value of our food. Each of the 15 uniquely designed pavilions showcases a different food through on-site demonstrations and tastes. Featured foods include: Beer, Bread, Charcuterie, Cheese, Chocolate, Coffee, Fish, Honey & Preserves, Ice Cream, Native Foods, Olive Oil, Pickles & Chutney, Spirits, Tea and Wine. The Green Kitchen takes place here, where acclaimed chefs will demonstrate techniques for making simple, everyday dishes sustainable.

Food for Thought Speaker Series:
When: Friday, August 29, from 9:00am until 4:30pm and Saturday, August 30, from 11:30 am until 10:00pm
Where: Civic Center/Herbst Theater and Milton Marks Auditorium
Cost: $5 – $25
Featuring leading thinkers, community organizers, journalists and activists discussing current food issues, from policy and planning to education and climate change. Among the speakers will be Wendell Berry, Marion Nestle, Carlo Petrini, Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Vandana Shiva, and Alice Waters.

Marketplace:
When: From Friday, August 29 through Sunday, August 31, 9:00am until 4:00pm
Where: Civic Center Plaza
Cost: Free
The Market showcases 60 California farmers and artisans growing and producing good, clean and fair food. Visitors can purchase directly from the producer and learn the significance of regionality, diversity and artisanality in the Bay Area’s food system. Next to the Market, “Slow on the Go” demonstrates how “fast” slow food can be. Visitors can purchase affordable street food from San Francisco’s diverse ethnic community, prepared with fully sustainable, source-verified ingredients.

Slow Food Nation Victory Garden:
When:Friday, August 29 – Sunday, August 31; 9 am – 4 pm
Where: Civic Center Plaza
Cost: Free
In collaboration with Victory Gardens 2008+, Slow Food Nation will herald the era of self-sufficiency through the creation of an ornamental edible garden in the heart of San Francisco’s Civic Center. Planted on the same site as 60 years ago during World War II, the Slow Food Nation Victory Garden demonstrates the potential of a truly local agriculture practice and brings together and promotes Bay Area urban gardening organizations, while producing high quality food for those in need. The Slow Food Nation Victory Garden will be introduced to the public on Saturday, July 12 in a ceremony with Mayor Gavin Newsom and Slow Food Nation Founder Alice Waters.

Slow Food Rocks:
When: Saturday, August 30, from 11:00am until 7:00pm, and Sunday, August 31, from 11:00am until 5:30pm
Where: Fort Mason/Great Meadow
Cost: For tickets visit: www.slowfoodrocks.com; Tickets on sale June 10
Featuring: Gnarls Barkley; G Love & Special Sauce; the John Butler Trio; Medeski Martin & Wood; New Pornographers and Ozomatli. Additional major headliners to be announced soon. A two-day outdoor music festival featuring the biggest names in rock, folk, hip-hop, soul, jazz and world music. Produced by the Festival Network, this is one of only three public events permitted on the Great Meadow the entire year.

Petition Launch for a New Vision for Agriculture and Food Policy for the 21st Century:
When: Thursday, August 28, from 4:00pm-5:00pm
Where: Civic Center/Slow Food Nation Victory Garden
Cost: FreeHosted in conjunction with Roots of Change (ROC), Slow Food Nation will introduce a Vision Statement for Agricultural and Food Policy for the 21st Century drafted by notable activists, practitioners, producers and eaters across the country. The Vision Statement will be a call to action to frame future food and agricultural policies, including the next Farm Bill, to benefit all Americans.

We’ll share more information as it becomes available, and hope to see many of you in San Francisco this Labor Day weekend!

Two venues – the Civic Center and Fort Mason – will be in play. At Civic Center, it will be all about the farm, and a farmers’ market of 60 to 100 vendors. “Slow on the Go” stands will sell slow fast-food-like tacos made with homemade tortillas, dosas and grass-fed hamburgers. Speakers will illuminate issues that affect the food we eat, and activists and nonprofit groups will gather to develop ways to make the American food system more sustainable.
Fort Mason will be mainly about eating, with hundreds of American producers offering tastes. Each food type will be organized by a local specialist – Acme Bread’s Steve Sullivan will gather the bakers, for example, and Tom Worthington of Monterey Fish will curate the seafood.

An enoteca devoted to wine is on the agenda, as are taste workshops, dinners, and educational seminars. We look forward to sharing more information as it becomes available.

Attention will turn to Turin this October, where the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre, Slow Food’s biennial international gatherings, will be held from October 23-27. News about Terra Madre, which is open to approved delegates and observers, is now available on the 2008 Terra Madre website. Information about the Salone del Gusto, which is open to the public, will be available soon, and we’ll share links and additional information.

† Slow Food Nation, the four-day event originally announced for May 2008, has been changed to Labor Day weekend, August 29 through September 1, 2008.

The Slow Food Nation team changed the date in response to input from farmers who were eager to show their produce at its peak in late summer, as well as opportunities to use some of San Francisco’s most emblematic public spaces, including Fort Mason on San Francisco Bay and the Civic Center Plaza in the heart of the city.

Information will be made available here and on the Slow Food Nation website, but mark your calendars in the meantime!

† Slow Food USA has just launched the Slow Food USA blog, now available at www.slowfoodblog.org. The blog is already a source of articles, opinions and commentary, and news, and we encourage you to take a look and visit it frequently.

† Something GOOD for Slow Food: Slow Food USA has also announced a partnership with GOOD as part of GOOD‘s partnership program with 12 nonprofit organizations. The monthly magazine focuses on social, political, and environmental issues, and will donate 100% of its subscription revenue to nonprofit groups. If you sign up for a subscription to GOOD you can designate your $20 subscription fee to Slow Food USA, a win-win situation. Visit the subscription page and consider adding GOOD to your monthly reading list.

† Slow Food’s Fifth International Congress was held from November 8-11 in Puebla, Mexico and brought together nearly 600 delegates from over 130 countries to discuss business issues and strategies and to explore new opportunities for cooperation among Slow Food’s national organizations. Southern California was represented by four delegates, and highlights and information will be posted shortly.