little kitchens = good eats

the place to be next friday evening will be the 2008 little kitchens foodie fundraiser at the hawaii state art museum. enjoy nibbles from island restaurants, farms, and food producers while supporting slow food oahu. if you are unfamiliar with the slow food movement, as you might expect from the name, it is the opposite of fast food focusing on locally produced food, treating animals more humanely, and growing organic.

take milk as an example. as i like to point out to friends, organic milk should simply be known as milk since that is the way it was made prior to the industrialization of the once bucolic dairy farm. if the milk most people schlep home from the market were labeled truthfully - unhappy cows chowing on an unnatural diet of feed to fatten them up (instead of grazing on the grass they were meant to eat) and shot up with hormones - most folks would think twice about taking yet consume every time they pour themselves (or their little one) a glass of milk - perhaps more people would reach for the organic offering.

yes, it will cost you a few more pennies but it's better for the environment and your body since studies have shown that organic milk has more antioxidants and vitamins compared to conventional milk.

alrighty, off my soap box. if my little rant has piqued your curiosity, click over and watch this episode from diary of a foodie for a look at how people around the world are doing slow food right.

• when: fri, jun 13th - 5:30p to 8:30p
• where: hawaii state art museum, 250 south hotel street
• tix: $60
• fyi: 21 and over

p.s. big island readers: if you have a bounty of fruits and veggies growing in your garden and don't want it to go to waste, contact your local slow food chapter which has volunteers in waimea and waikoloa happy to pick the extra produce and deliver it to the food bank.