Mary Wellington and her jam, Chef Edie Robertson and her restaurant and Laurence Hauben's farmer's market, three people linked by a love of food…and a specific way to enjoy it.

"It's sort of like the real thing to me," said Mary. She's talking about something called "slow food". The slow food movement started years ago, in Italy, as one man's response to fast food, and now it's a worldwide philosophy that says food is more than fuel. That wholesome food is essential to the pursuit of happiness.

So what is slow food, you ask? For one thing, it's about using quality ingredients. Slow food is about taking the time to cook. And slow food is about… well slowing down.

"You rarely get to sit down these days and enjoy, like, a two-hour meal. That's kind of what it's like, too. Slowing down, enjoying, savoring each bite," said Mary.

Edie Robertson has been doing slow food at her Santa Barbara restaurant for years. Reporter Tim Robinson asked, "So you must feel really good putting these beautiful dishes together?" "Absolutely. I go to the farmer's market twice a week with my wagon and have a relationship with the farmers and they tell me what's coming up so I can get excited what to plant," said Edie.

In a nutshell, the ingredients for slow food can be found at any farmer's market. And small farmers are what make slow food possible because they're the ones who will produce specialty crops.

Said Laurence, "If you go all over the world, all you get is Big Mac. What's the point?"

Tim: "Yes right. You want to taste each culture, each region."

Laurence: "Exactly."

It's also about non-mass produced produce. Just like Mary Wellington's backyard bounty, which she harvests to make a variety of homegrown, homemade, slow made preserves. "Because I can go out and pick the fruit when it's at its prime, bring it into the kitchen and if I don't have enough for a batch, I can run out and get more and bring it in," said Mary.

Slow food is about treasuring the preparation…and, certainly, it's about enjoying the final product.

A special thank you goes to La Casa de Maria for accommodating the Heartland crew during our stay in Santa Barbara. La Casa de Maria is a non- profit organization that offers religious, educational, community service & enrichment groups, two separate retreat centers for meetings and conferences. In an area of outstanding natural beauty both places share panoramic views over the Pacific Ocean to the Channel Islands National Park. For more information please visit: www.lacasademaria.org