Silicon Valley Slow Food Leadership

Meet the Slow Food Silicon Valley’s new Leadership: Randy Robinson, Frank Ashton, Ann Duwe, and Jessie Herr.

Randy is the co-owner of Vino Locale, a new Enoteca style wine bar in Palo Alto that specializes in local wine, food and art. Randy has been an active member of Silicon Valley Slow Food for 4 years, and Vino Locale is a also strong supporter of Slow Food. Randy discovered Slow Food on a trip to Italy several years ago, where, in Rome and visiting Vatican City noticed a McDonalds in Piazza Spagna and thought to ourselves, “Why in the world would someone eat at McDonalds in Rome where the food is so exceptional?” Sound familiar?

Frank is a winemaker and the owner of Los Gatos Wine Company and Downhill Winery, and he also consults in the specialty food business. He operated Bread Of Life Foodstores in Santa Clara county for over twenty years, which featured local and organically grown produce, meats, groceries and deli's. He consults with large and small food companies, but prefers to work with small, closely held companies to help owners and managers to serve their customers well. He launched Los Gatos Wine Company in 2004 to produce small batches of premium wine sourced from some of the best vineyards in Northern California. Frank is always looking for a chance to cook and entertain, and is excited about helping Slow Foods to grow in the south bay.

Ann has spent 18 years planning and managing educational tours to places around the globe. She learned her craft during almost 15 years as a program planner with the Stanford Alumni Association's Travel/Study Programs. Among her skills is the ability to create special events that forge ties between travelers and local people. On the home front she insists on making pie crust from scratch and often plans meals around produce in her backyard garden. In 1999 she visited Bra, Italy to shake hands with the founders of Slow Food. By coincidence she arrived during Slow Cheese, a celebration of the best handmade cheeses in Italy and beyond. Ann was immediately converted from Slow Food member to advocate. She looks forward to introducing residents to the San Francisco Peninsula's most distinctive edibles.

Jessie is simply passionately involved in good food. She has a 600-volume collection of cookbooks (and still growing), enjoys cooking, food-related (and other) travel, talking about food, and doing food-related events.

Any or all of us can be reached through the Contact Us page on this site.

Links of interest

Slow Food USA - National Office

Slow Food International - International Office

Slow Food Forums - Interesting Slow Food discussions

About Slow Food USA

Slow Food USA is a non-profit educational organization dedicated to supporting and celebrating the food traditions of North America. From the spice of Cajun cooking to the purity of the organic movement; from animal breeds and heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables to handcrafted wine and beer, farmhouse cheeses and other artisanal products; these foods are a part of our cultural identity. They reflect generations of commitment to the land and devotion to the processes that yield the greatest achievements in taste. These foods, and the communities that produce and depend on them, are constantly at risk of succumbing to the effects of the fast life, which manifests itself through the industrialization and standardization of our food supply and degradation of our farmland. By reviving the pleasures of the table, and using our tastebuds as our guides, Slow Food U.S.A. believes that our food heritage can be saved.

Slow Food USA believes that pleasure and quality in everyday life can be achieved by slowing down, respecting the convivial traditions of the table and celebrating the diversity of the earth’s bounty. Our goal is to put the carriers of this heritage on center stage and educate our membership on the importance of these principles. We hope you will join us.

Slow Food USA oversees Slow Food activities in North America, including the support and promotion of the activities of 70 local chapters, each called a “convivium,” that carry out the Slow Food mission on a local level. Each convivium advocates sustainability and biodiversity through educational events and public outreach that promote the appreciation and consumption of seasonal and local foods and the support of those who produce them.

Guilding Principles

Sustainability

• recognizing the interdependence of people with one another and with our environment
• caring for the land and protecting biodiversity for today’s communities and future generations
• promoting pure food that is local, seasonal and organically grown

Cultural Diversity

• recognizing food as a language that expresses cultural diversity
• preserving the myriad traditions of the table
• cultivating and reinvigorating a sense of community and place

Pleasure and Quality in Everyday Life

• celebrating the diverse expressions of our earth’s bounty
• appreciating and encouraging creativity, passion and beauty
• respecting and supporting artisans who grow, produce, market, prepare and serve wholesome food

Inclusiveness

• following democratic principles in a spirit of sharing and service
• educating members and others about Slow Food’s mission
• dedicating ourselves to local cooperation and global collaboration

Authenticity and Integrity

• insuring our values are embodied by all staff, board members and convivium leaders
• manifesting these values in all of our events, projects and publications
• committing ourselves to partnerships with like-minded individuals and organizations

The Slow Food Manifesto

Our century, which began and has developed under the insignia of industrial civilization, first invented the machine and then took it as its life model.

We are enslaved by speed and have all succumbed to the same insidious virus: Fast Life, which disrupts our habits, pervades the privacy of our homes and forces us to eat Fast Foods.

To be worthy of the name, Homo Sapiens should rid himself of speed before it reduces him to a species in danger of extinction.

A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life.

May suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency.

Our defense should begin at the table with Slow Food. Let us rediscover the flavors and savors of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food.

In the name of productivity, Fast Life has changed our way of being and threatens our environment and our landscapes. So Slow Food is now the only truly progressive answer.

That is what real culture is all about: developing taste rather than demeaning it. And what better way to set about this than an international exchange of experiences, knowledge, projects?

Slow Food guarantees a better future. Slow Food is an idea that needs plenty of qualified supporters who can help turn this (slow) motion into an international movement, with the little snail as its symbol.