The description of Slow Food in Roz's piece is out of date, as the founder, Carlo Petrini, has moved the 'frame' onto an organisation that is more about protecting traditional cultures (anti-GM, anti-largescale, and a conviction that "the way we used to do things" will save us from global warming etc) and about 'communities' (not convivia) that are socially and politically active, not a group of friends savouring the Rubenesque sandwich that Roz describes (and it is a good sandwich).  The wide and keen Slow Food movement is likely to split in two as Petrini's new environmental and socially-focussed direction is deeply disliked by some; and to some others (including me), his new environmental focus is fine but his solutions are bizarre.  To read more, Petrini's new book is called Slow Food Nation in the States and Slow Food Revolution in other English-language markets.  The spirit of SF that Roz describes sounds a bit quaint in the light of the wider, political push.

Hi. I got my information from an official in the organization during an interview that I conducted three weeks ago. I am not sure how much more current I can get than that given that I write a bi-weekly column. I will definitely look into it, though. Thanks again for your comment.

Michele, have you had a chance to read the first half of this article from 2 weeks ago? Maybe you will feel, if you read that section, that it fills in the gaps that you mention. It focuses more on the international and national work done by SF rather than the local, social part. Perhaps that's the missing piece. Thanks - Roz