Slow Food USA has been busy on its Time for Lunch campaign, which advocates for healthy, local, quality food to be served in our nation’s schools, as an investment in children’s health and nutrition education, as well as in green jobs and reduced waste.
On Monday, Labor Day, Slow Food has planned a National Day of Action, and participating couldn’t simpler. All around the country — in picnic spots, parks, restaurants, farms, and backyards — people will be participating in Eat-Ins. Eat-Ins are simply potluck gatherings of those who wish to slow down, enjoy one another’s company and good food, and at the same time support improving the quality of food in our schools. More than 300 Eat-Ins are in the works, in all regions of the U.S. Some have arranged to have speakers from the Slow Food Movement and elected officials; others will offer chef demonstrations and games.
Slow Food and other advocacy groups hope to use the day to bring more attention to the issues, as the group is lobbying Congress for change, coinciding with the fact that the Child Nutrition Act is due for re-authorization this month.
Best, yet, who wouldn’t like a moment to embrace the end of summer vacations and reconnect with those around us for a couple of hours in the late afternoon — over food. Eat-ins offer the perfect combination of community, activism and food. And they have struck a chord. This article in The Atlantic points out that they are attracting tons of folks who have not previously been involved with the Slow Food Movement.
I’ll be at the Eat-In in Mill Valley’s Boyle Park, which will run from 3-5 pm. Representative Lynn Woolsey is expected to appear, as is Green Gulch gardener Wendy Johnson, who will be leading an educational “Plant In”.
The Slow Food site makes it easy to find an Eat-In near you.
Photo by Susan Sachs Lipman
