Carlo Petrini is such a great public speaker that he easily overcomes the need to have a translator on stage with him. If you haven’t encountered Petrini before, the clip above will give you an idea of   what I mean.

The Italian founder of the Slow Food movement – who is also scheduled to give the keynote at this year’s Georgia Organics Conference the previous evening – will be part of a faculty panel and discussion session at Emory on Monday, February 22nd entitled “Food, Family and the Family Meal.”  Other featured speakers include the CDC’s Joel Kimmons and Emory Psychology Professor Marshall Duke.

The event is open to the public and will take place from 4pm-6pm at 1531 Dickey Drive on the Emory Campus.  Petrini will be on hand to sign books post-discussion.

h/t: Clairmont Heights

Michael Pollan and a lot of other local foodies will be displaying big smiles at the GA Organics Conference in Decatur this weekend.

The Obama’s have announced plans to plant an organic vegetable garden on the White House lawn.

I can just feel the farm lobby and food manufacturers cringe when Michelle says things like this…

“You can begin in your own cupboard,” she said, “by eliminating processed food, trying to cook a meal a little more often, trying to incorporate more fruits and vegetables.”

How simple.

And how revolutionary.

Dave over at InDecatur notes this quote from Agnes Scott’s Sustainability Director in an interview with the AJC…

But [this week] we’re going to announce a partnership for gardening and food with the city of Decatur, Decatur city schools, Georgia Organics and Oakhurst. What we’re going to do is find multiple locations to [develop] gardens and figure out who does the labor, how it’s funded and how the [produce] is distributed to the community.

The last time I asked the city about the “urban farms” initiative, they said it was still in the planning stages.  But this weekend is the Georgia Organics Conference at Agnes Scott, so this would be a good time to get it all out there.  Hopefully we’ll hear the full details soon!

Also, it looks like there’s still a chance to meet Michael Pollan even if you can’t attend the conference or the farm to table dinner.  Carl sent me a link a few days back from Slow Food Atlanta, which advertised “Cocktails in the Garden” with Pollan at the Oakhurst Community Garden on Friday, March 20th from 6:30-7p.  Tickets are $35 and can be purchased here.

Sometimes I feel kinda psychic.

These days whenever I come across an article by a food writer that invokes the word “rant” in the title OR apologizes for ranting in the first two sentences, I can  accurately predict that 9 times out of 10 the name “Michael Pollan” will show up within three paragraphs.

Thus was the case this morning, when my eyes fell upon food critic Cliff Bostock’s Year-End Rant in the pages of Creative Loafing’s Year in Review.

Since its publication in 2004, Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and follow up, In Defense of Food, have really hit a nerve among those in the U.S. that have a passion for food.  Omnivore helped propel the slow/local food initiative, which today is exemplified by CSAs and in restaurants like Decatur’s Cakes and Ale, highlighting local, in season foods.

Why bring all this up (again)?

Well, a few weeks back, DMoholic Scott pointed out to me that Pollan is coming to Decatur on March 21st to speak at Agnes Scott as part of Georgia Organics 12th Annual Conference and Tradeshow.   The conference runs the 20th and the 21st and registration will begin in January, with preference given to GA Organics members.  So if you want to see Pollan, you might want to become a member if not already one.  Registration will open to the public in late-January if any openings remain.