THE POLITICS OF THE SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT

  By DICK CLEVER

   Managing Editor, Skagit Valley Herald

     An international movement aimed at improving the world’s access to good food and promoting close-to home agriculture began in Rome about three decades ago.

   An activist named Carlo Petrini stood on the 350-year-old Spanish Steps and vowed to fight the opening of a new McDonald’s restaurant he considered an affront to centuries of Italian cuisine.  

   What Petrini spawned at Spanish Steps has caught on globally, with what the organization’s Web site now claims as 100,000 members in 32 countries, including the United States.

   The movement spread from Italy across the globe and found sympathetic adherents in the Skagit Valley.

 To read the rest of the article go to

http://www.goskagit.com/home/article/slow_food_pushes_principle_with_cuisine/

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THE POLITICS OF THE SLOW FOOD MOVEMENT

  By BEV CHRICHFIELD

  Skagit Valley Herald

When customers stop in for a gourmet meal at Palmer’s Restaurant in La Conner, they’re likely to be taking in more than just the flavor of their meal.

The spinach in the salad or the basil used to flavor the stew is likely from Hedlin Family Farms just a few miles away, the raspberries in the dessert from Swanson Family Farms just outside of La Conner.

Why order food that has to be trucked hundreds or even thousands of miles across the country when you’ve got it practically sitting fresh in your backyard, mused Thomas Palmer, co-owner of Palmer’s Restaurant on La Conner’s waterfront.

Besides, customers these days are demanding to know where the ingredients in their meals come from, Palmer said.

And, well, food that hasn’t been sitting in a refrigerated truck for three or four days while being driven across country just tastes so much better, he said.

 To read the rest of the article go to

http://www.goskagit.com/home/article/slow_food_on_a_fast_track/