A Measured Message

Alice Waters preaches the slow-food gospel

Comments (0) By Patrice Elizabeth Grell Yursik Thursday, Nov 8 2007

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There are those who throw stones at Alice Waters’s philosophies. The slow-food movement is expensive, impractical, and elitist, dissidents bleat. We say let them have another cold glass of haterade and stuff their faces with more McEvil. If you’re health-conscious, family-conscious, or just conscious period, you should at least hear the woman out before dismissing her ideas as the out-of-touch sanctimony of an affluent crunchy-granola California earth goddess. To prepare for Waters’s reading tonight at Books & Books, we got in touch with Jo Anne Bander, the co-convivium leader of Slow Food Miami, a group that’s all about awesome eats and preserving the roots of our agricultural community.

The slow-food movement’s mantra can be summarized in four words -- shop locally, eat organically – but according to Bander, it’s deeper than that. “It’s grown to represent a whole strategy to value food differently and to value different foods,” she says. That begins with encouraging schoolchildren to plant lush gardens where love for vegetables and herbs can blossom alongside edible produce. “That gives children a vivid sense of connection with the earth, that a seed can become something you eat and enjoy,” Bander explains. Sounds sensible, right? Learn more at 8:00, when Alice Waters reads from The Art of Simple Food. Slow Food Miami members will be on hand to welcome folks interested in joining the group. Check out www.slowfoodmiami.com.
Tue., Nov. 13, 8 p.m., 2007