Slowfood Nation

[dautcalm]

Hi,

I'm thinking of making the trip for this event. I'm most interested in the Half Moon Bay Coastal Pleasures slow journey and perhaps the Taste Pavilions. Are these worth the price? Any insider tips? Any must do events?

http://slowfoodnation.org/

[Robert Lauriston]

Who knows? It's a new festival. Slow Food projects sometimes suffer from disorganization and lack of funding.

[azhotdish]

I will be in town from Phoenix that weekend and am very much looking forward to this event. Given it's ambitious nature, I'm surprised I haven't seen any more info on this board about it.

[Columba]

Yes, surprising there's not more buzz. Chow.com is one of the partners.

FMI
http://www.slowfoodnation.org/

[DavidT]

The NY Times ran an article on the event yesterday.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/din...

[Robert Lauriston]

That article does nothing to assuage my fears of disorganization. Alice Waters told the Times, "If 60,000 people do come, and we’re all in front of City Hall, and it’s a beautiful night, well, who knows what could happen.” Likelihood of a balmy evening in Civic Center aside, the event in front of City Hall ends at 4pm, and the evening events are elsewhere.

If there's a standard grid-style schedule of events to help prospective attendees figure out their itineraries, I can't find it on the Web site.

[Earl Grey]

This is what stuck out for me:
“It will be a failure if it is only well-dressed people over 35 from the Bay Area treating it as if it’s another Ferry Plaza Farmers Market” - Corby Kummer

Excuse me? How offensive is that? Who cares how old I am or what I have to wear?

[Ruth Lafler]

The vast majority of people behind Slow Food are people over 35 who hang out at places like the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, which makes it even more hypocritical. They'd have a lot more credibility if they worked with other groups who are actually doing grassroots work on food production in poor communities. A few weeks ago I caught an episode of Bay Area Backroads that visited several urban farms (one in San Francisco, two in Oakland) that are producing food in some of the poorest parts of those cities and training locals in food production, but I don't see any mention of them among the "partners," panels, speakers, etc. They could have done a "journey" similar to what the show did, but instead they're burning lots of fossil fuel to take people out on nice day trips to pretty scenery, boutique farms and dairies and gourmet food and wine, with a little "education" thrown in.

You can see the segment at: http://www.bayareabackroads.com/Recen... (Urban Farms)

[mochimunchie]

At least they have City Slicker Farms helping with the Victory garden at Civic Center. Hopefully it will bring more attention to these grassroots groups that are doing such important work

[Ruth Lafler]

That's good! I must have missed that.

[JasmineG]

If you look on the list of special dinners, some of those are partnered with urban farms, including City Slicker farms and People's Grocery from Oakland.

[Ruth Lafler]

Okay, I guess I'll have to give them some credit. But they didn't exactly put them front and center, compared to their more upscale partners. If they want to be serious about being about more than boutique food for yuppies, they should make groups like that the centerpiece. This way it sort of looks like a way for people feel good about being socially conscious while quaffing their wine and nibbling their organic goodies.

[Robert Lauriston]

Slow Food's mission is "to defend biodiversity in our food supply, spread taste education and connect producers of excellent foods with co-producers through events and initiatives."

In the US, where most people eat the opposite of slow food, that can seem elitist in a way that it doesn't in Italy, where the movement started (sparked by McDonald's opening a branch on the Piazza di Spagna). But I don't see anything hypocritical about the organization's focus.

[Earl Grey]

Then why pick on the very people they look to for the bulk of their support? Picking on a successful market (with MANY flaws, granted) doesn't make them look better, just petty. And I'm over 35 and poorly dressed. I'm not sure if I can go!

[Ruth Lafler]

Maybe not Slow Food generally, but since this event is in the Bay Area it's either intended for that U.S./Bay Area audience or for people who can afford to travel here. With that in mind, it's a little hypocritical -- or to be kinder, disingenuous -- to state that the event will be a "failure" if only "only well-dressed people over 35 from the Bay Area" attend. How many people who don't fit that description (well-dressed aside) can afford to attend? Are they giving scholarships or stipends to poor people, students and other people who don't fit that description so they can attend? Sure it's nice to *say* that your event is not just for yuppies, but with a lot of middle class people these days feeling the pinch of higher prices for food and gasoline, how can they honestly expect other than a well-heeled crowd?

[scosco]

The horror...a well-heeled crowd showed up and was able to take what they learn back to their own communities to perhaps build successful local more diverse programs.

Targeting influencers is a smart move. Whining about the fact there are no poor people at the event misses the point entirely.

[Ruth Lafler]

I'm not whining about the horror of well-heeled crowds -- I'm whining about the hypocrisy of people who put on events like this and then put down the people who can actually afford to attend in favor of some mythical group poor people who are supposed to shell out their hard-earned money so that people like Alice Waters can feel less like elitist foodies.

[tonyarose]

I can see where you're coming from when you mention the elitist nature of the Slow-Food USA festival. However, I do think that they are attempting to make inroads to communities other than the "Over 35 and well-dressed."

As previously mentioned, they are partnering with City Slicker Farms, and student discounts are available for all of the speaker panels (with the discount $15, which is not much more than a movie these days).

And in response to the above comment about the website being difficult to navigate:
"If there's a standard grid-style schedule of events to help prospective attendees figure out their itineraries, I can't find it on the Web site."

http://www.slowfoodnation.org/events/
I didn't find it too difficult.

[Robert Lauriston]

That's just a bunch of lists. A standard grid-type schedule lets you see what's happening at a particular time so you can plan an itinerary. The main consolidated list of ticketed events has only dates, not times:

http://www.slowfoodnation.org/events/...

[Robert Lauriston]

Ironically, the "world food crisis" panel discussion Corby Kummer is participating in was one of the first events to sell out--at $25 a head.

I don't know where he got this "well-dressed" business. Maybe in Italy.