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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…