Kim Bast, local chef, attended the Slow Food conference in Italy this past October. Out of a small group of individuals on Lopez, Bast was selected to attend the Slow Food international conference, Terra Madre, in October of 2008. There, delegates who represented one of four categories – food producers, chefs and cooks, food educators, and/or students – attended to share information, marvel at food products, and tackle the food issues on the horizon.

Others were also interviewed, but Bast’s schedule and interest allowed her to attend to represent the food community of Lopez Island. An Orcasian and a San Juan resident were selected as well.

“The conference brought together 7,000 delegates from all over the world,” Bast said. “We got together to discuss clean, good, fair food and how to make that available to everyone. We feel it’s a human right and not a privilege for food to be grown equitably and within cost for all.”

The first day the delegates broke down into their nations of origin. The American group talked about the image of slow food in the US; that the image Americans have of slow food followers is viewed as being shrouded in a aura of privilege. Slow food activists in the US want to dispel this elitist image through food activism and present it as other countries have.

“Other countries have held onto their food traditions because their communities value their culture and lifestyle. Whereas the United States has shifted to convenience, fast food, and we’ve even divorced ourselves from the growing of food, the hows and whys of food, the intricacies between the earth and animals and gardens, and have, thanks to chemical companies, advertising and government regulation, divorced ourselves from the origins of food,” explained Bast.

At Terra Madre convention, there was an entire section where food producers, who make up a smaller group inside of Slow Food called Ark of Taste, came together to present their wares. “(to) identify and revitalize foods, farmers and traditions that are at risk of extinction.” This quote from “Renewing America’s Food Traditions, by Gary Paul Nabhan encapsulates well the Ark of Taste’s mission. Bast said, “There was booth after booth of variety…of someone demonstrating how a cured meat product is made in one small village in Spain, dried cod from Scandinavia, coffee from Brazil, black celery from Sicily, pastries, honey from the salt marshes in the Meditteranean….it was overwhelming. Each item had its own history, story, and is linked to rituals which contribute to the identity of the culture that it comes from.”

Bast notes that Americans turn to authors and others to inform us on how to feed ourselves. Here, in the islands, Bast observes, education is taking place every day. “Through the intimate relationships we’ve developed here, through the Evening Meals at School, and even the Lopez Island Historical Society, which is focusing on the history of farming on Lopez Island in its annual program, Lopez is actively engaging in food economy and politics.” Bast commented. “There are gardens at the school, where children grow, harvest, and eat the food that they help grow. Issues regarding how to work with clay soil, which seeds do well here in our microclimates, there is a huge interest and upswelling in how our food is produced and processed locally.”

Happening at the same time as the Terra Madre was the Salone Internazionale del Gusto, and Bast was enthusiastic. “There were cheeses, olive oils, preserves, wine…and each of these categories had entire aisles devoted to their foodstuffs.”

One of the seminars that Bast attended was more sobering. Van Dana Shiva, the Vice President of Slow Food, spoke about the heartbreak of Indian farmers who were paralyzed regarding their farming: they could not grow their crops because of genetically engineered seeds.

To learn more about the future of food on Lopez Island, and the future of food in our world, Van Dana Shiva has co-written with Claudio Martini, three manifestos: Manifesto on the Future of Seed, Manifesto on the Future of Food, and Manifesto on Climate Change and the Future of Food Security. These can all be found at www.arsia.toscana.it/petizione/.

Bast hopes to prepare a presentation on her trip to Terra Madre to share her experiences, knowledge and photos.