conscious consumption 195
town, but we always return for dinner with Paolo and the family,
to organic, no - salt - added meals that are awesome. We don ’ t police
the Ricers ’ sodium intake, unless there are patients with medical
concerns and questions about eating only very low sodium foods,
so the best organic cheeses and olives are also yours to enjoy.
Our last two trips to Orvieto have included a half - day experi-
ence with Danilo, the most respected cheese maker in the area,
and his son, Francesco, who holds a degree in agriculture. When
I asked Francesco whether his father ’ s cheese was organic, he
looked deeply into my eyes and said that his father ’ s reputation
meant more than any organic certifi cation. (And as we said before,
when you really hear the truth, it is hard not to know it!) After
petting the sheep and seeing their green - grass - and - barley diet, we
rolled up our sleeves to make the best organic pecorino you have
ever tasted. It is hard to say whether it is this delicious because of
the lack of chemicals and hormones in the sheep ’ s lives, or whether
it is due to your falling in love with the twinkle in Danilo ’ s eyes
and the picnic setting beside his three - hundred - year - old home. But
then you realize it is all of the above! Being that conscious of your
consumption and the true source of your pleasures is truly a divine
experience.
Another treat for our fall tour with Ricers was a fi reside chat
with Luisa, a long - time slow food advocate and administrator for
the Citta Slow of Orvieto. She told us about much of the history
and passion of the Italian - born slow food movement. If you cannot
arrange to accompany us on our November tours to their region and
hear Luisa and Giampiero speak in person from their hearts, Luisa ’ s
following description (translated by Simona Menchinelli, our host-
ess and friend at Locanda Rosati) on why they moved south from
Pisa to her grandfather - in - law ’ s farm to restore it into Locanda
Rosati will be the next best thing.
At a certain moment of our lives, Giampiero and I felt the
need to live closer to a natural pace of life, closer to the coun-
tryside, and we also thought that this needing was actually
felt by many.