Last Wednesday, two of my favorite foodies were on tv doing a segment about “guilt free” eating. Using simple substitutions, I learned I can save more than 200 calories by switching my morning bagel to an English muffin with Laughing Cow low-calorie cheese spread and almost 1,000 calories by switching from fettuccine alfredo to tofu noodles and light cheese. Simple changes that make decadent foods more health-conscious, what’s not to love?

For some people, quite a bit, actually. The foodies in question are Rachel Ray and Lisa Lillien — women who love talking about food in a way that doesn’t make a person like me feel overwhelmed. But their philosophies for simplicity, healthy substitution, and fun in cooking don’t always mesh with the more serious demands some food activists make. What I’m still not sure of is whether there’s a compromise to found somewhere in the middle?

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We had to weave through 20 areas of slow food including ice cream, cheese, wine, in only four hours. Even though we skipped most of the demonstrations and classes it become challenging to sample all the offerings.

We had to remove the organic organic organic mentality from our minds as some, but not all, of the items had purely organic ingredients but the offerings did have varying degrees of local, sustainable, even biodynaimic.

Surprisingly, the liquid offerings didn’t have the egregious queues so we sampled some among other things some of the gently spicy, not yet released Tru organic gin, where they care not only about the ingredients but they use packaging that is either recycled, recyclable or biodegradable.

Over in the beer section, we sampled a number of winners including the strong, savory Ruination Ale from the always trying to be green Stone Brewing Company. They just added a significant amount (over $2M worth) of PV panels to their operation and don’t let high fructose corn syrup anywhere near their brewpub.

The event expanded the borders across the U.S. We broke bread and Cowgirl Creamery brie with Slow Foodies from North Carolina who assured us that slow food movement continues to expand there. And what about the Coffee Infused Honey and Lemon/Ginger/Garlic Infused Honey from Mockingbird Meadows that we sampled.  Although not certified yet, they farm using biodynamic principles. Part of their harvest involves carefully brushing the bees back into the hive without smoke whenever possible.  Biodynamic honey in Ohio! Watch out Sue Bee. The Slow Food Nation doesn’t just thrive in the Bay Area. It drips slowly but surely forward.