Mylene Kherallah reports on the Slow Food theme:

Slow Food which started in Italy in 1986 and is now present in about 150 countries. It is a countermovement to the "Fast Food" revolution which invaded many food systems around the word in the past 40-50 years, especially in the developed economies. Slow Food principles include: reviving local food varieties, producing and eating food products that are in season, focusing on the quality and taste of food products, returning to traditional cooking methods and recipes, preserving biodiversity, producing sustainably and protecting the environment. Slow Food is also focusing on maintaining, developing, and labelling the products from their original territory -- or as we say in French "produits du terroir". 

Slow Food is also protecting traditional and old food varieties (including of animals, fish, herbs, and condiments) or processing techniques which are slowly becoming extinct.  These products are labelled "presidi",  i.e. protected products, of which there are currently about 200 in Italy. The revival of these products is now supported by Slow Food. The "presidi" products are receiving a quality-premium in niche and high-end culinary markets . Examples of these products, which NEN staff have tasted during their dinner on November 4, 2010 at il Grillo in Chiusi, are the "Pollo del Valdarno", the "Bottarga di Orbetello", and the "San Gallo" wine from the Montepulciano region. Slow Food has also become an important marketing and branding tool for several products, restaurants, food producers and processors. There are areas of now about 100,000 associate members of Slow Food around the world, and the numbers are expanding.