by Allison Arieff, Sunset editor-at-large

If you missed the amazing Slow Food Nation festival in San Francisco last month, don't despair. You can learn about the incredible group of fresh-food artisans committed to keeping our food supply delicious, diverse, and safe in Slow Food Nation's new book "Come to the Table: The Slow Food Way of Living" edited by Katrina Heron, with a foreword by Alice Waters.

We could have featured this book on Sunset's garden or food blog but I've included it here to bring the point home that Slow Food is really about a lot more than food itself. It's about the importance of craft, the joy that comes from collaboration, the importance of creating community. These things can manifest themselves not only in the food we grow, buy and eat but in the homes we design, build and live in (hence an article on "slow design" in the New York Times last year).

"Come to the Table" features profiles (and gorgeous photographs) of the farms and growers who devote themselves to the perfect peach (or plum or pepper). I love the book's "How to Go Slow" guide with its simple tips such as Plant a kitchen garden, Eat together, Talk food politics, Learn your region's food story.

And did I mention the recipes? I made the Simple Roast Chicken (p. 140) last night. Delicious.