At Slow Food Nation, Day Two

Allison Cash (Group Account Director here at Marlin) and her husband Cody Cash (writer extraordinaire at deep) are attending Slow Food Nation ’08 in San Francisco. This is Allison’s daily diary. More pictures after the jump.

Saturday, August 30

Yummy and delicious

The Taste Pavilion at Fort Mason Center was today and it was grand. A bustling show of many categories of food, it was truly a trip for the taste buds. There were areas for many different types of foods and beverages: chocolate, fish, coffee, tea, honey, cheese, bread and more. Amazingly, we ran into another Slow Fooder from Missouri — Shawn Askinosie. He was there in the chocolate area sampling his chocolate and talking with interested people. He was friendly and excited to see a couple of people from the Springfield area. Cody and I tasted his white chocolate and it was fantastic.

We also saw Michael Pollan from a distance and I had a little bit of celebrity sighting excitement. His In Defense of Food was so important to me I felt a bit awestruck seeming him in person and oddly reassured that he is just a guy. I was going to get a picture with him but didn’t want to hunt him down to do it, so we didn’t. Seeing all the people behind their products was great. The energy was high and the flavors tasty. The best thing we tasted was a Sweet Corn and Raspberry ice cream. Delicious. We left the Taste Pavilion to race back down to the Civic Center area for a panel discussion.

We made it in time to listen in to the talk about Edible Education. It was motivating but somewhat overwhelming. How do we change the NSLP? How do we start to educate all relevant parties on the consequences of their food choices? Are K-12 the best audience or do their parents need to be educated first? How can Big agri-business be reckoned with in this area?

I am still thinking about all that was said and I know it will take a few days to work through it — probably a few months. I have to assess the situation in our area and decide how to proceed.

It was the first time I have heard Alice Waters speak and she was interesting. Her mantra was all children must eat good, clean, fair food in schools. No exceptions. She has been instrumental in the Edible Schoolyard here in Berkeley and the results are great. It makes my mind race thinking about where to start. Just as the discussion was winding down, I saw Wendell Berry walk into the auditorium. I nudged Cody and pointed him out. I got so excited. He is my favorite author/essayist. He is an older man and has a very low-key presence. I am not sure a lot of people know what he looks like. After we were dismissed from the theater, Cody and I spotted him in the lobby. I made my way over nervously to him and introduced myself and Cody and told him that his writing had truly inspired me. He was humble and welcoming and took the time to get a picture with me. This was the pinnacle of the event for me. Shaking the hand that has written the words around the sacredness of our land, our connection to that land and our commitment to it and each other felt like a bolt of lightning. My heart started racing and I felt dizzy for a moment. I gathered myself, and Cody and I left.

I am blessed that I got to meet Mr. Berry and reminded of how his writing has influenced me and how it connects to the Slow Food movement. At the core, I have always felt connected to the land my family has lived on for a couple of generations. I have felt a drive to do something with that connection, and the good news is that I have an idea of what that something will be in the short term:  starting a garden and letting it grow.