For more information about Peggy Markel and her programs, visit the main PMCA website at peggymarkel.com.
Peggy's interest in the delicate relationship of food and its origins began early. “For me, a connection to real food is a connection to life,” Peggy relates. She found kinship with the Slow Food movement in 1993, recognizing in it values that echoed her own. Slow Food aims to reorient our relationship to food and its production: Our actions must be in harmony with our surroundings. Peggy sees that in this return to balance there is nothing lost in resources and a lot to gain in contentment and satisfaction. It’s a process about which she’s passionate: “It's the tangible fertility of the earth, ripe and ready for seed, that's so moving for me. It speaks to a larger harmony, and reminds us of the beauty and grace that is the fortune of the present moment.”
For the past 17 years Peggy has traversed the Mediterranean and North Africa, from Elban fishing villages and Moroccan markets to the homes of Tuscan artisans and chefs, furthering her own exploration of culture and cuisine. On these journeys, she saw an opportunity to design and direct her own brand of culinary tours in which enjoyment of the present place and moment plays a pivotal role. "When we speak of Slow Travel, we mean that particular experience of letting yourself merge with your surroundings: the pace, customs, mores and style of where you find yourself. It’s really about our willingness to let the world in, and see ourselves a part of it.”
Not everything can be learned from reading a book. The three dimensional world of travel engages the senses like no other experience. Why not bring that book to life?”
– Peggy Markel
