Created by Ms. Alice Waters herself, the organization’s international vice president, the event is already garnering much attention far and beyond those tuned into the Slow Food movement. “We want to start the revolution! We want to bust the food movement out of the self-induced food coma that it’s been in right now in terms of people not being political enough in how they talk about quality food and, I think, being afraid to talk about the fact that good food tastes better, it’s more yummy and more pleasurable,” says Executive Director of Slow Food Nation Anya Fernald.

“It’s [about] getting people into a more aggressive space in the food movement; not being afraid to take a stand on the fact that billions of dollars are being spent by big food [companies] to convince people that quality food is the privilege of the elite. That quality food means you’re a Lexus-driving, chardonnay-swilling …whatever you are. And that’s just not true! We want to push back against the incredible marketing dollars and power that’s behind making people think that gardening is something for the elite.”

It’s also Slow Food’s giant step toward getting very serious here in the States. Started in 1986 in Italy by Carlo Petrini, Slow Food has nearly 90,000 members worldwide, but only around 200 of them are scattered here and there around 47 states in the U.S. at the moment—a Horton-Hears-a-Hoo number considering how buzzy the Slow Food name has become. Organizers of the event have even gone corporate to turn this eco-friendly mole hill into a delicious, edible mountain, with sponsors like Whole Foods and the Food Network on board.

So, what exactly will you be doing if you attend? No, you will not be armed with sharpened organic sugar-cane sticks and asked to storm the steps of the FDA, but you will get to see an actual working vegetable garden planted on the grounds of San Fran’s City Hall just for the occasion, as well as  experience four days of thought-provoking, hunger-pang inducing, farm-loving festivities. Ticket packages will be available on the website for a multitude of fun foodie events, which are already starting to sell out.

“The United States of Food taste pavilion is an absolute must,” Fernald says of the veritable gorge fest of artisan food producers from all over the country, where for $65 you can spend four hours sampling everything from honey, olive oil, and chocolate to charcuterie, ice cream, and spirited locally minded cocktails. The Food for Thought lecture series is a great way to get digestible information about the issues plaguing our food supply today and its future, and for those of you who like a little music with your dinner, don’t miss the Slow Food Rocks music festival featuring the likes of Gnarls Barkley, the New Pornographers, and G. Love and Special Sauce, among others. Also selling out quickly are tickets for the Slow Dinner series, a prix fixe meal at one of the Bay Area’s many amazing eateries, ranging in price from $45 to around $100 per person.

Since this is the first one, estimates on the number of attendees is still just that—a guess—but Fernald is expecting about 40 to 50,000 over the holiday weekend. “There are these big corporate interests who want to make sure that Americans outsource their food interests to a couple of colossal multi-nationals. Having a garden used to be a sign that you were poor; now it’s a sign that you’re rich. We want to change that.”

—Amy Zavatto