Filed under: Europe, Italy

I'm a Slow Food kinda guy and I abhor fast food. I'm not talking about food that you can cook up fast at home like a quick stir fry, but that slop masquerading as burgers and tacos that the mega-chains foster off as food. Just thinking about it has me up in arms and ready to charge to the attack. No, give me a nice slice of baked ham from a hand cured and aged hog that met his maker kindly and I'm happy and peaceful. This week in Italy is the Salone del Gusto, the "Exhibition of Taste" put on by Slow Food, the organization formed 20 years ago to counter the fast food culture. The main theme for the tenth anniversary of this festival is peace. Food for peace, what a concept. One of the events will be Israeli and Palestinian chefs coming together to cook a meal using the best of their cooking traditions. The Chefs for Peace Association has organized this in the hope of creating a dialogue on common ground to focus on working together to prevent the agricultural and food based destruction of war. Let's hope it works because while I may get all riled up about food, it also tends to calm me down as well. Hopefully the same is true worldwide. After reading about the tasting areas at the festival I wish I could take the time to head to do my share for world peace and gustatory exploration.