NOT SO FAST

Although they probably don't know it, many people will practice the principles advocated by the Slow Food movement as they celebrate Thanksgiving.

The time-honored, but seemingly endangered, ritual of gathering a family around a dinner table for a homemade meal is one of many traditions Slow Food proponents deem valuable and worth reviving.

But that's just a slice of the Slow Food pie. Locally, the fledgling Slow Food Southwest Florida group has brought together a cornucopia of concerned consumers who belong to a growing international movement devoted to the production and consumption of pure, natural food purposefully enjoyed, preferably with family and friends.

Naples residents Albert and Roz Katz will partake in a quintessentially Slow Food Thanksgiving feast as they dine on a Bourbon Red heritage turkey with some 20 family and friends at the Manhattan home of their son, Allen. The meal will also include heritage ducks and stuffing made with Delaware Bay oysters.

Allen Katz is Slow Food USA's chairman of the board. Not surprisingly, his well-informed parents have been Slow Food members for more than a decade, joining the Southwest Florida chapter shortly after it formed.

Chef Kristina San Filippo, of the Robb & Stucky KitchenAid Culinary Center, plates a salmon course using produce from vegetables and herbs grown at Herban Gardens in North Fort Myers.

The lineage of heritage turkeys predates that of the Broad-breast White turkeys sold commercially. Heritage turkeys have richer, darker meat with more flavor, owing to their longer lives and their diet of grass and insects.

"Flavor is clearly important here," says Mr. Katz. "We'll be using everything that's fresh. We will braise greens, whatever is available at the farmers' market so we don't know ahead of time."

That's the essence of eating the Slow Food way.

Rose O'Dell King is the president, founder and driving force behind the rapidly growing Southwest Florida group, which includes restaurateurs, wine experts, farmers, fish and cheese mongers, home cooks, professional chefs and enthusiastic consumers of food and wine.

COURTESY PHOTO Naples caterer Greg Shapiro with his fruit carvings. Mr. Shapiro is a recent convert to the Slow Food movement.

A sommelier, graduate of the French Culinary Institute and food and wine writer, Mrs. King takes food seriously. She credits her interest in Slow Food to Chef Martin Murphy, who moved north earlier this year after heading the kitchens at Blue Pepper Gourmet Market in Fort Myers and the Robb & Stucky KitchenAid Culinary Center in Bonita Springs.

"He valued the integrity of food and was passionate about the bounty Southwest Florida had to offer," Mrs. King says. "Chef Martin was a powerful influence on me, as well as others in the community. Although we didn't know it then, we began slowly building a strong core of passionate, joyful people, all looking to establish a strong, vocal and local food community."

In the beginning

Slow Food Southwest Florida came to life in April and has become one of Slow Food USA's fastest-growing convivia (the plural of convivium, which is what individual chapters are called). The not-for-profit group has attracted 60 members, 130 Facebook fans and 200- plus friends and supporters who attend gatherings and receive updates on the convivium's activities.

The Southwest Florida group - with members from Lee, Collier and Charlotte counties - belongs to the international Slow Food movement, which began 22 years ago in Italy in an effort to combat the homogenization of foods caused by the burgeoning numbers of supermarket mega-chains and fast-food outlets. Today, the eco-gastronomic movement boasts 85,000 members in 132 countries, including seven other Florida locales.

In its first few months, the group has hosted sell-out events including gourmet potluck gatherings, a cocktails competition, an Oktoberfest celebration and a farm-to-table dinner featuring fresh produce from Ken Ryan's all-natural Herban Gardens farm in North Fort Myers, prepared by chef Kristina San Filippo of the Robb & Stucky KitchenAid Culinary Center in Bonita Springs.

"We do enjoy getting together and eating wholesome, seasonal, well-prepared food, something we do a lot at our events," says Mrs. King. "But we also advocate sustainability and bio-diversity through educational events and public outreach. Through our events we promote the appreciation and consumption of local food and artisanally made foods, and support those who produce them."

People join for a variety of reasons.

For Caroline Boland, who made a living as a caterer before moving to Fort Myers from the Midwest, it was an opportunity to learn about local foods and growing seasons.

"I knew about growing zucchini, tomato, lettuce and corn," she says, "but here there's citrus on the trees and neighbors come over with armfuls of avocados. It's an opportunity to educate myself about my new home and I've met great people through Slow Food as well."

Florida native Greg Shapiro, owner of Taste Buds Custom Catering in Naples, discovered Slow Food while watching cooking shows on television.

"I researched it and fell in love," he says. "I'm a Slow Food preacher. Then I found out about the local group and was hooked."

He'll drive an hour to Immokalee to get fresh local tomatoes and buys his stone crabs right off the boats at Everglades City. While it might take longer and cost more than doing business with national suppliers, "I know what I'm getting," he says.

Spreading the word

It's a mindset Slow Food Southwest Florida wants to cultivate.

To that end, the group ran a limeade booth at the first Taste of Lee, held in August, which featured dozens of local farmers and artisans and drew a crowd of more than 1,100 people.

It's where Dee Hohimer connected with Slow Food. The Indiana transplant grew up on her family's farm.

"I had a first-hand experience of what it's like to have food that travels less than 100 feet from where you grow it to where you eat it," she says.

Although she rejected that lifestyle when she went off to college, she gradually became aware that her upbringing had made an impact on her.

"It gave me a particular value system for how food is produced," she says. That system mirrors that of the Slow Food movement.

Not surprisingly, she identified strongly with growers, which led her to organize a farmers market in Bloomington, Ind. 30 years ago. That market has grown and flourished over the years. She hopes to help establish one through Slow Food Southwest Florida for the 2009 season. It would consist of local growers (from within about a 100-mile radius), selling the foods they have raised themselves using earth-friendly practices.

"Slow Food producers believe you eat as locally as you can," she says, "and that you use the least amount of fossil fuel possible. The farther it comes from the less desirable it is."

Growing a movement

Among those who stand to benefit from such a market is Denise Muir, owner of Rabbit Run Farm in Buckingham, who will open her own roadside stand this season.

The financial adviser-turned-hydroponic farmer plans to open her U-pick strawberry field and old-fashioned farmers market at her farm in about three weeks. Customers can harvest their own strawberries and then shop in the market, which will offer 13 varieties of heirloom tomatoes as well as squash, zucchini, eggplant, radicchio, greens and other produce she's grown.

Her career switch came after she wrote a paper on the journey food takes from farms in distant states or countries. It's a trip via ship or truck to supermarkets and then to our plates. This massive system has resulted in a homogenization of produce, sturdy items that can be packed and shipped without risk of spoilage.

But that availability comes at a price.

"I was amazed at the environmental aspect of grapes that come from Chile and the tons of emission from the boats and trucks," Ms. Muir says. "People don't realize what produce shipping is costing all of us."

She joined Slow Food because its principles align with her philosophy and she enjoys the camaraderie of like-minded individuals.

So does Ken Ryan, who runs Herban Gardens in North Fort Myers and is a founding member of Slow Food Southwest Florida. It's his microgreens, herbs, edible flowers, vegetables and other specialty items diners enjoy at some of the top restaurants in Fort Myers, Bonita Springs and Naples.

"I don't use a tractor, so there's no diesel fuel or gasoline used," he says. "Everything is done by hand and in containers so it's in its own environment and there's no cross contamination." It's a passion for Ryan, who spent many years as an engineer before striking out on his own green path.

Eye to the future

That passion extends to teaching future generations the Slow Food way. Mr. Ryan and Mrs. King recently spoke to a Florida Gulf Coast University class about the subject.

Associate Professor Patricia Fay's senior seminar on civic engagement explores many subjects, but one about which she feels strongly is food as a form of civic action. The result of the appearance by Mr. Ryan and Mrs. King was an assignment that everyone bring in a dish to share that was organic, locally and/or ethically produced.

Last week, the class filled three long tables with smoked mullet, Key lime pie, cinnamon raisin bread, grouper with organic basil and thyme, fresh orange juice, mangrove honey and other goodies.

"You make food choices three times a day," Ms. Fay tells her students. "There's an impact on your body, on your family, on the planet. Food isn't just a drivethrough window."

Mr. Ryan believes that educating people about the importance of good nutrition and pesticide-free foods is vital to improving Americans' quality of life. That's one of the Slow Food goals that attracted him to join. "We need to get away from these chemicals and tractors that pollute the air and cause us to buy so much foreign oil. There are ways to do it rationally. It's not going to happen overnight, but Slow Food can help do it in a slow way."

Slow Food 101

>> What it stands for (according to the Slow Food USA Web site):

"Slow Food is good, clean and fair food. We believe that the food we eat should taste good; that is should be produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work, and that all people should have access."

Among its goals:

>> Raising public awareness, improving access and encouraging the enjoyment of foods that are local, seasonal and sustainably grown.

>> Caring for the land and protecting biodiversity for today's communities and future generations.

>> Performing educational outreach within members' communities and working with children in schools and through public programs.

>> Identifying, promoting and protecting fruits, vegetables, grains, animal breeds, wild foods and cooking traditions at risk of disappearance.

>> Advocating for farms and artisans who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food.

>> Promoting the celebration of food as a cornerstone of pleasure, culture and community. Source: Slow Food USA

Slow Food 411

For more information

>> Visit www.slowfoodsouthwestflorida.com for details about the local group and upcoming events. Facebook members can also check out Slow Food Southwest Florida's page.

>> For more about the movement, Slow Food products and articles published in newspapers and magazines around the country, go to Slow Food USA's Web site at www.slowfoodusa.org.