The Real Gelato | Civil Eats

The Real Gelato

The election is over, but Chris Tan of San Francisco’s Gelateria Naia – featured in the Taste Pavilions at Slow Food Nation 2008 – is calling for food activists in California to support another political cause: the definition of gelato.

A few years ago, the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) asked Gelateria Naia to submit a standard definition for the term “gelato” in order to prevent confusion within the Department about the many gelato and gelato-like products being put on the market by small and large producers. The definition Chris suggested this year – low milkfat, no injected air, no synthetic ingredients – provoked a firestorm of responses by industrial producers who would be thrilled to dilute the definition and be allowed to sell sub-standard products under the same heading as real gelato made by regional artisans. The CDFA has asked the public to submit comments on the issue before December 15. If you’d like to learn more or share your thoughts about safeguarding gelato (and the artisans who make it), please visit http://realgelato.org

We’ll bring the news to you.

Get the weekly Civil Eats newsletter, delivered to your inbox.

Today’s food system is complex.

Invest in nonprofit journalism that tells the whole story.

Gordon Jenkins is the Time for Lunch Campaign Coordinator at Slow Food USA. He is the Director of Eat-Ins.org and was an organizer for Slow Food Nation 2008. He has served as an assistant to Alice Waters and as a student farmer and writer for the Yale Sustainable Food Project. Read more >

Like the story?
Join the conversation.

More from

General

Featured

A watercolor-style illustration of a marine observer looking through binoculars at a tuna fishing vessel. (Illustration credit: Tina Zellmer)

The True Cost of Tuna: Marine Observers Dying at Sea

The harassment, abuse, and sometimes death of the marine observers who uphold sustainable seafood standards are the industry’s worst-kept secrets. Critics say the people and companies that earn the most money on tuna aren’t doing enough to secure their well-being.

Popular

Food Prices Are Still High. What Role Do Corporate Profits Play?

a young family carries the shopping in together despite high food prices

This Community Garden Helps Farmworkers Feed Themselves. Now It’s Facing Eviction.

A farmworkers grows stands in the fields harvesting food at the Tierras Milperas community garden.

Can Farming With Trees Save the Food System?

Op-ed: How Federal Dollars Can Help Ease the Rural Water Crisis

A resident of Porterville, California, carries a case of bottled water for use at home. (Photo credit: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images)