Is Slow Food slowly changing?

The accomplishments and contradictions of Slow Food were on display in November 2008 at Terra Madre, a biennial gathering that brings hundreds of small farmers and food artisans from around the globe to Turin, Italy, to exchange advice, share experiences, and display products they've lovingly grown or made. The convention is the main event on the Slow Food calendar. (The organization was founded in 1989 to counteract the pernicious effects of fast food.)

While it is certainly a glorious celebration of sustainable agriculture and eating, Terra Madre also embodies many of the tensions inherent in Slow Food itself. As the looming global recession gave added punch to customary complaints of elitism, attendees alternated between promoting a progressive political agenda and gorging on fine-cured meats and pastries.

Newly elected Slow Food USA president Josh Viertel told a meeting of the U.S. delegation - which, with 800 members, was the largest to attend Terra Madre - that the organization had to do a better job of addressing issues of social justice.

Full story: Christian Science Monitor