Serious Eats - seriouseats.com

For another fantastic and meatless posole verde, check out Steve Sando's recipe over at Rancho Gordo:
http://www.ranchogordo.com/html/rg_cook_posoleverde.htm

I've made it a number of times, always to rave reviews. Plus the recipe makes a LOT so there are always plenty of leftovers for lunches the following week.

Hrm. You ask a tough question, Herr Levine...

I have not made an exhaustive study of the tactics of Alice Waters or of Carlos Petrini. I do know that they both have lofty and admirable goals which I support. But you're likely correct that they might not be the best choices for functional leaders of their movements.

Within any movement it's critical to have a well-defined goal, but almost as critical is the ability to view the actions taken as small parts of a greater whole. The only place I know where you can see movements made in the blink of an eye is in movies (mostly involving Jet Li or those where Scotty mans the transporter). For everyone else it's a progression. When surveying the progress of any undertaking one shouldn't judge success by the answer of "Are we at our goal yet?" but rather "What progress have we made towards our goal?" The entire undertaking should be reviewed, progress applauded, faults acknowledged and future strategies reassessed in the light of the new knowledge gained. Baby steps are, after all, still steps.

Are Alice Waters and Carlos Petrini the sort of people to accept baby steps as the progress they are or are they of a more boolean mindset, where there is no "success" at all if it is not complete? Again, I can't say. I haven't worked directly with them and, as I already mentioned, haven't done research on the matter. I doubt anyone here has that kind of perspective, allowing them to make (and hopefully share here) a reasoned and measured judgment.

My own judgment right now is based only on what I read in places like this and my own experience with Slow Food. That judgment--or, more accurately, that opinion--is that right now the movement may be well served with different leadership. Leadership which understands that to make an impact on the American public it may, unfortunately, be necessary to consider taking a page from Madison Avenue's playbook and subtly work your way into the collective consciousness. This will likely allow the movement to make more progress and garner far more mindshare (read: raise awareness in a functional way) than can be accomplished by the seemingly evangelistic approach currently being taken.

Again, I do not know that Waters and Petrini are not already trying this along with their other tactics. If they're doing more than what I currently see (passing negative judgment against those who do not entirely meet their very high standards), then most of what I wrote above may be considered null and void and I'll have to reevaluate my current opinion. I, for one, would welcome the chance to admit that my opinion is wrong.

I live in the Bay Area and, until recently, was a member of a Slow Food convivium here. I respect the work Ms. Waters does with her Edible Schoolyard and in promoting small local producers of quality foodstuffs. Yet I disagree strongly with her stand on this particular issue.

I'm sorry, ma'am, but it is not necessary either to come to San Francisco or to involve Slow Food in order to meet the goals of Farm Aid. As much as I love it I must admit that currently the Bay Area's most common export in food culture is arrogance. Contrary to the publicly espoused opinions of Ms. Waters and others, we in the Bay Area are not the end-all be-all of the food world. Yes, we are blessed with an almost enviable array of fantastic producers who respect not only their consumers but especially their products. But we are not the only place. Nor are we the only source of all-things-good in American food culture.

That aside, Mr. Levine is correct in pointing out that Ms. Waters seems to have missed the point of Farm Aid: helping small farmers. When you as the owner of a business see the black ink ever increasingly replaced by the red you are not too particular about who refills your black pen. Yes, in a perfect world Farm Aid would be able to meet their goals of helping family farmers through the help of the "appropriate" large companies.

Wait...no, that's not right. Because, you see, in a perfect world there would be no need for family farmers to receive any help at all. They'd be able to do what they love (producing quality produce and meat and avoiding the corporate monoculture of our agriculture) without having to lose sleep wondering whether they might make it through this season if only they can get another mortgage and maybe leave their machines back to the bank.

So please cut these people some slack. They are, I'm sure, doing quite the best that they can considering the general apathy in our society towards small farms. When other more "acceptable" companies and organizations step up to the plate and offer their support (financial and otherwise) to Farm Aid then I'm sure that their help will be accepted gladly.

Maybe the vaunted Slow Food would care to throw out the first pitch by contributing the proceeds of even one of the many over $100 a plate benefit dinners which they throw on their own behalf every year...

My friends and I attended the HtT dinner this year. Though not every course knocked it out of the park we still enjoyed ourselves immensely. Enough, in fact, to reserve Incanto's Dante Room in September for us and 13 friends to partake in one of Incanto's Whole Beast Feasts.

My review of the HtT dinner can be found here.