By Brian Halweil

When the motley horde of salmon smokers, cheese mavens, boutique winemakers, chutney canners, counterculture chefs, guerrilla gardeners, food gurus and plain old citizens interested in the cosmic change happening to America’s diet, descends on San Francisco this Labor Day for Slow Food Nation, it will be a watershed moment in our nation’s history.

Group it with the march on Washington, Woodstock, the Seattle WTO protest and other comings together that formed inflection points in the nation’s collective consciousness. Because in the age of food activism, what we put in our mouths doesn’t just sate and please. It’s our thrice-daily chance to affect the world around us.

“It’s the first continental culinary congress,” says Gary Nabhan, the Arizona anthropologist who’s been talking about the pleasures of eating local before most locavores were even born. When he stopped by the Slow Food Nation office recently, he flashed back nearly four decades to the atmosphere of the first Earth Day headquarters, complete with boundless interns, tireless brainstorming and sincere faith that “we can change the world.”

There’s no doubt it will be a good party. The city’s Civic Center will be stocked with aisles of cheeses, olives, wines, breads and honeys—mostly little known and beautifully made, but all crafted in the USA. From Buffalo’s Flying Bison Brewery beers to Colorado bison jerky, from Mississippi salami to Texas mozzarella, from Carolina pumpkin chip preserves to Royal Hawaiian honey, this land was made for you and me.

The legendary Ferry Plaza farmers market will offer an even more exhaustive selection of California foods than usual, from dried Blenheim apricots to salumi to nut butters of every persuasion. Restaurants from the Mission to the Haight will feature menus that resonate with the event. Slow on the Go will sample the city’s ethnic eats, from Vietnamese bahn mi sandwiches to tacos with free-range pork. A banquet for 500 diners will celebrate the solidarity between rural and urban, farmer and eater.

But it will not just be about the food. On the eco-gastronome spectrum—to borrow a term from Slow Food godfather Carlo Petrini—the American brand of Slow Food has always been more eco than gastronome. Perhaps it’s because our food traditions, while they do exist, aren’t quite as deeply rooted as in the Old Country. Perhaps it’s also because we seek redemption for our dysfunctional eating habits. Like the sinner who gets saved, the United States—dysfunctional eating habits and all—has in short order assumed a leadership role in the international movement founded as a counter-offensive to the first McDonald’s opening in Rome. America’s 15,000 intrepid members and 150 chapters nationwide represent the largest contingent outside of Italy. (The map of these chapters overlaps closely with a certain growing network of local food magazines.) The New York City Slow Food chapter’s membership is second only to Rome’s.

Buoyed by a quickening appetite for good food, this country’s pantry of farmstead cheeses, craft beers, single batch spirits, heirloom veggies, and heritage meats rivals and dazzles its counterparts from Europe. American chapters have organized some of the movement’s most innovative programs, often intervening in cases where the U.S. government has faltered. The Edible Schoolyard project spurred a national debate about what we feed our kids, while inspiring a parallel effort back in Italy. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Slow Food USA created the Terra Madre Katrina Relief Fund with the help of convivia around the nation, to support Gulf of Mexico food communities; recipients ranged from oystermen and shrimpers trying to get their boats back in the water to African-American farmers who raise forgotten varieties of sweet potatoes to New Orleans chefs struggling to retain unique Southern cuisines.

Yes, something may be afoot in American eating habits. “Locavore” was named word of the year. More people keep chickens than in recent memory. Your kid’s school may have installed a salad bar, and it may actually be stocking that salad bar with organic greens grown nearby.

“We are about to birth a new movement,” says event organizer Anya Fernald. “And the new movement is about connecting plate and planet.” Pleasure and politics will pleasantly collide, as people taste, but also strategize. Activists from across the land will gather to sketch out a national holiday for picnics and sign a mock dream Farm Bill. Chefs from coast to coast will take station in the Green Kitchen, armed only with mortar and pestle and a single burner, crafting essential, simple recipes for busy modern people. Outside the Civic Center, a 15,000-square-foot organic veggie garden—a modern day Victory Garden at a time of soaring food prices, stubborn hunger, and war—is already coming to life. By fall, attendees will literally see the abundance that is possible if we want to dig up our lawns, support a family farm, or plant a seed.

It will be a heavenly overwhelming display of exactly what it means to eat and live well. But remember, it will also be a sort of call to arms. So grab your fork and take a seat at the table.

Brian Halweil is the author of Eat Here: Reclaiming Homegrown Pleasures in a Global Supermarket. He is the editor of Edible East End and publisher of Edible Brooklyn and Edible Manhattan.

Farmers in Iowa and other midwestern states have been devastated by recent flooding. The following is a dispatch from Wendy Wasserman, publisher of Edible Iowa River Valley.

EIRV is proud to be part of an emerging coalition specifcally dedicated to the plight of the smaller farmers/producers in Iowa who have been hit hard by our severe weather disasters this spring.

We are hearing horrible stories from some of the farmers/producers we work with who have suffered catastrophic losses. Some have endured significant property, equipment, and crop losses. Some are weeks, if not months, behind in planting because the ground is too wet. Some are totally underwater. We’ve heard from CSA farmers who have had to suspend their operations, produce farmers who have lost 2-3 plantings of heritage crops, other farmers who can only get in/out of their property by boat, and yet others who have lost barns, greenhouses and crucial equipment to winds, rains and floods. For those who have survived unscathed, we know of several farmers markets that have been washed away or otherwise impacted, thereby preventing producers from getting their goods to market.

In light of this vast disaster, an emerging Iowa based coalition has partnered with Farm Aid to develop an emergency fund specifically for small and independent farmers. Willie Nelson is coming to Iowa this weekend to formally get things going, and Farm Aid has also launched an online campaign (click here to donate).

If there is one thing I’ve been reminded of this season, it is that a natural disaster can come anytime and anywhere and wipe out entire networks in a blink. It could happen in any of our communities without rhyme, reason or warning. The producers that we all know and love - the same ones that are the anchors of the local food system - are the most vulnerable to such a catastrophe. Supporting these producers in their most critical time of need is a way we can make our local and regional food systems stronger for the long term.

Iowa experienced the flood of the century 15 years ago. That, of course, was a different century.

Over the last week Iowans have seen floods unlike any in living memory. 1400 city blocks in Cedar Rapids were inundated with water up to 11 feet deep. 16 University of Iowa buildings were flooded. Interstates 80 and 380 were closed by water flowing 2 feet over their bridges. Levees have given way in Des Moines and Columbus Junction. 36,000 Iowans are newly homeless.

All this will have lasting impact on our state, but the larger impact may be felt across the country and around the world. An estimated 2 million acres of freshly planted farmland is under water. Statewide, about 20 percent of soybeans and 10 percent of all corn normally grown is either lost or at risk of being lost, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture. The smaller sustainable family farms of the region are hit particularly hard because they lack many of the federal protections afforded the large commodity growers, but those big corporate farms grow roughly a third of the corn and soy in this country and the ripple effects on our already weakened economy will spread just like the floodwaters. Even the stockpiles left from last season’s bumper-buster harvest (those that were not themselves ruined by floodwaters), cannot be shipped to market because railroad bridges are closed or washed out completely and the Mississippi River is closed to barge traffic along Iowa’s entire eastern border.

Closer to home, my dear friend Susan Jutz, director of the area’s largest CSA, lost her 102-year-old barn to the storms. While some CSAs have lost entire crops and acres of land, the CSAs that went unhurt are trying to get their food to families who have lost their homes.

83 of Iowa’s 99 counties are state and/or federal disaster areas. Whole towns are evacuated. Family businesses lost. Restaurants underwater. The rebuilding process will take years and be in the billions of dollars.

Edible Iowa River Valley is in the process of determining what it can do to assist the affected farmers, wineries and restaurants. We’ll soon be turning to the wider world for help. Meanwhile your advice and your prayers will be most welcome.

There are photos, news and video available here, here, and here

This week’s Food and Drug Administration warning to avoid certain tomato varieties which may carry salmonella, is a reminder, as tomato season begins in many parts of the country, that eating from sources close to home that you know and trust is one way to avoid exposure to widespread foodborne illnesses.

“With the growing number of salmonella cases linked to huge farms and packing plants, now more than ever it is important to know who is growing your food and the conditions under which it’s grown,” says Tracey Ryder, co-founder and president of Edible Communities, Inc.

For many proponents of local eating, the next best thing to homegrown is locally grown on a small family farm. “If there is a problem with a locally grown crop, consumers can trace their food back to its source very quickly,” says Ryder. In the current case of salmonella in tomatoes, FDA officials have been trying to locate the origin of the outbreak since May. “We’ve seen this exact situation before with industrially produced food,” says Ryder, “and we’re likely to see it again.”

Slow Food Nation, the largest celebration of American food in history, is coming to San Francisco Labor Day weekend (August 29 to September 1, 2008).

At the peak of harvest season, and on the eve of a 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 U.S. 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 (Wendell Berry, Marion Nestle, Carlo Petrini, Michael Pollan, Eric Schlosser, Vandana Shiva and Alice Waters); and engage in political discourse to shape a more sustainable food system. Slow Food Nation will also feature a music festival (Slow Food Rocks: Gnarls Barkley; G Love & Special Sauce; the John Butler Trio; Medeski Martin & Wood; New Pornographers and Ozomatli), workshops, films, dinners, hikes and journeys.

This item was too good to pass up.

On June 2, 2003, the USDA amended its PACA (Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act) rules to include what is described as the “Batter-Coating Rule“. Richard Schell, a federal district judge in Plano, Texas, in cahoots with the powerful french fry lobby, ruled that frozen french fries, would be from this day forward, classified as fresh vegetables.

Fresh!

Frozen!

Fresh!

Frozen!

Did anyone bother to point out the obvious difference in spelling of the two words?

Es verdad. I kid you not. Let’s travel back in time to Newsweek circa 2004:

Last month, the batter-dipped French fry industry (motto: “Making French Fries Even Less Healthy Since 1940!”) won a major victory when a judge ruled that batter-dipped fries actually qualified as “fresh vegetable” under USDA rules. Under the USDA’s “Batter-Coating Rule,” a box of chocolate-covered cherries would probably now qualify as fresh fruit, too (clearly Ronald Reagan’s USDA was ahead of its time declaring ketchup and pickle relish vegetables). Nonetheless, U.S. District Judge Richard Schell ruled that batter-coated french fries are a fresh vegetable–so, according to the food pyramid, feel free to eat three to five portions per day!

And more from Salon:

“The Frozen Potato Products Institute appealed to the USDA in 2000 to change its definition of fresh produce under PACA to include batter-coated, frozen french fries, arguing that rolling potato slices in a starch coating, frying them and freezing them is the equivalent of waxing a cucumber or sweetening a strawberry. The USDA agreed and, on June 2, 2003, the agency amended its PACA rules to include what is described in court documents as the ‘Batter-Coating Rule.’”

Excuse me while I rush off to a farmers market in search of fresh french fries…

You are a compassionate carnivore (or whatever). You just spent $45 on a t-bone from humanely raised, grassfed cattle, just harvested down the road at the ranch. You throw it on the grill and let the flames consume it. You throw it on your plate and it’s inedible.

What you gonna do? Step one: OSH. Sorry SF Bay Area inside joke. Step one: learn how to cook! Sheesh. All hand-wringing aside, even if you’re making sustainable choices when it comes to food, you’ve got to know how to prepare it!

Some very basic, no-nonsense advice from Chow’s Your Meat Is Green: Tips for responsible carnivores
By Roxanne Webber

1. Learn to Cook. You’ll be able to efficiently use the meat you do buy, and avoid processed food and takeout. You can get a good start with The Silver Palate Cookbook, Cook with Jamie: My Guide to Making You a Better Cook, and The America’s Test Kitchen Family Cookbook.

Someone give Roxanne a medal or something. Seriously.

Since we’re rolling with a sustainable seafood theme, here’s more recent coverage on the worlds rarest tuna. And no, it’s not the bluefin (yet), it’s the Kindai Honmaguro.

They start as an embryo in a lab dish at Kinki University in Japan. Those that survive look like this:

Eventually they are moved to open ocean pens where they are raised on blue mackerel, horse mackerel, squid, and sand eel. Just last December (2007), the Fisheries Laboratory of Kinki University shipped it’s first 1,500 fry, the third generation of the artificially hatched Kindai tuna, to tuna farming operations off the coast of Japan as seedling for the culture of bluefin tuna (Only 23 fry were found dead during transportation, and thus the survival rate was 98.47%. After arrival, they continue to grow steadily with the survival rate being 93.8% as of December 25, 2007).

(download the pdf from the Fisheries Laboratory of Kinki University)

Yes, we’re guilty of total tuna geek knowledge. Thank you very much.

Coverage continues with todays SF Chronicle and an article from (former SJ Mercury staff writer) Carolyn Jung.

Kindai Honmaguro at IMP Seafood Imports in Hayward, complete with certificate of authenticity.

Gotta love Carolyn’s lede:

These days, sit down at a sushi bar for a plate of unctuous, glistening toro, and along with it will come a heap of guilt and grief.

And you can bet your tuna collar that we are working up a list of sushi bars that are serving said toro. Just imagine how huge that list will be and you’ll get an idea of how serious the plight of the bluefin really is. And, just imagine the list of sushi bars that don’t serve bluefin. Teeny tiny indeed.

James Shimizu of IMP Seafood Imports carves up a Kindai tuna

Want some?

Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago purchases the toro, as does chef Laurent Gras, formerly of San Francisco’s Fifth Floor, who is just opening his L20 restaurant in Chicago. Manresa puts dibs on the head; Sebo often buys the collar, which it serves salt-grilled for as much as $25 a portion.

“The flavor is incredible, and it slices unbelievably well. It’s not sticky like other farm-raised tuna,” says Ron Siegel, chef of the Dining Room at the Ritz-Carlton, who features Kindai sashimi as part of a $110 tasting menu, and Kindai-geoduck tartare with cayenne emulsion as a $25 appetizer.

Last item of business for today: Go sign the petition to get the National Marine Fisheries Service to take steps in saving the bluefin.

I was sitting next to Bonnie, aka The Ethicurean’s Dairy Queen (and Deputy Editor at ESF), at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Cooking for Solutions Benefit this past weekend. She was furiously typing away, secretly hoping to out-blog Sam Fromartz of ChewsWise (I wasn’t even in the game due to the fact that my laptop dies five minutes after I power up, and frankly, I’m not even remotely in Bonnie and Sam’s blog-league anyways). Due to the fact that Bonnie has to look at her keyboard while she types (uh-oh, I’m in trouble now), Sam beat her to it, publishing the first post from the conference on Thursday afternoon: Las Vegas’s Daily Diet of 60,000 Pounds of Shrimp.

It’s a couple days later, but Bonnie has come roaring back with a huge exhaustive blog post. Sam? Got any left in you? Bonnie’s post is going to be tough to beat.

All kidding aside, if you weren’t at this years Cooking for Solutions event then I suggest leaving space on the calendar for the next go around in 2009. The momentum is building for this to be one of the premiere Sustainability conferences in the country. And the environs ain’t too shabby either.

I was deathly afraid of pills as a kid, or rather, I was deathly afraid of choking to death on pills. I had a “toenail” condition (don’t ask), which required me to swallow a couple pills a day, and my mom had to practically throw them down my throat (while I was gagging) to get me to take them. What a wuss I was.

So I can’t imagine how kids today cope with the steady diet of pills they have to pop to cure their ills. According to a recent study by Medco:

51 percent of American children and adults were taking one or more prescription drugs for a chronic condition, up from 50 percent the previous four years and 47 percent in 2001. Most of the drugs are taken daily, although some are needed less often. The study highlights a surge in children’s use of medicines to treat weight-related problems and other illnesses previously considered adult problems. Medco estimates about 1.2 million American children now are taking pills for Type 2 diabetes, sleeping troubles and gastrointestinal problems such as heartburn.

Kerry Trueman, on her blog, Eating Liberally, takes a look at the Medco study, the farm bill, and the other Hilary - yes they are all connected - check it out.