Find out all about slow food.


BRENT BLACKBURN: Any way you look at it there's plenty in the NT for food lovers to savour.

The ingredients are all here, just look at Darwin's Mindil Beach markets. You'll find a sizzling selection, a unique mixture of mouth-watering morsels.

But should we take more advantage of what we've got?

Slow food ambassador Sophie Herron hit the airwaves in Darwin this week to put the case.

SOPHIE HERRON: I think slow food's really trying to say, "Look this is for everybody and everybody can enjoy it."

And whether it's just a barbie or you're really into caviar and champagne, I don't know, it's something everyone can take a bite out of.

BRENT BLACKBURN: The slow food movement is trying to stir up interest in a local chapter, or Convivium, as they're called.

It's started by spreading its gospel to Darwin's gastronomes.

While the slow food movement is starting with gourmets, Sophie Herron says this can be a quiet revolution for everyone.

SOPHIE HERRON: Obviously it's not realistic to have a huge seafood platter for lunch every day.

But if you go to your local deli and there's the guy whose been there for 10 to 15 years and he makes good sandwiches and you have a bit of a chat and there's a bit of identity to it and you get something out of it rather than getting some sort of faceless meal that probably satisfies some instant hunger and just fills a gap but doesn't really fill anything else.

BRENT BLACKBURN: The benefits of getting more out of our kitchens, according to the slow food gurus, are great.

The idea is not just good food with good friends, but a slower pace of life in general.

SOPHIE HERRON: Eating is one of life's greatest pleasures.

And sharing food and sitting down with your family and friends and having a barbeque with some good meat and good beers -- that's slow food.

It doesn't have to be a 5-star restaurant and hundreds of bucks.

It's just enjoying it and sharing it and thinking a little bit about what you're eating.

BRENT BLACKBURN: At its very heart, the slow food movement is a political one.

It requires a raised awareness about buying and eating certain foods, and not others.

Slow food even requires a global vision supporting fresh, local produce over bland imports.

SOPHIE HERRON: I think you'd probably say we're an eco-gastronomic movement.

Slow food really believes you can't be a gourmet without being an environmentalist.

You've got to think about where that cheese came from on your plate, or think about the sustainability of the production of that beef, feedlots, all that sort of stuff.

So we try to spark curiosity in people about food and food cultures.