Slow food may be the movement of the moment, but when it comes time to raise your paddle and bid on local fare at Sotheby's "Farm to Table: The Art of Farming" auction, speediness will be the name of the game. Finally, blue-ribbon "edible heirlooms" are not just for John Steinbeck or Thornton Wilder characters with a nickel to spare at the county fair. At this newest collision of the gourmet and fine-art worlds, it seems more plausible that the crowd will consist of the likes of Jennifer Rubell or Rirkrit Tiravanija as they pick up ingredients for upcoming edible installations. 

One of a series of events in Edible magazine and GrowNYCs Eat Drink Local Week (September 26 – October 6), this auction will bring to market musk melons and pea shoots of more than 40 local farmers, along with chichi New York winery getaways, celebrity chef dinners, farm-to-table feasts, and Brooklyn “brewmaster tastings.”

And while Edible Manhattan deems the auction an "Amish-style" affair, it seems hard to imagine anyone arriving in a buggy to an event where chefs from the Tri-State area’s top eating establishments — Eric Ripert of Le Bernadin, Zak Pelaaccio of Fatty Crab, and Dan Barber of Blue Hill — serve as co-chairs along with the likes of Bette Midler, Martha Stewart, and painter April Gornik. (Or where the ticket costs quite a few beans: $250 for cocktails and the auction, $1,000 for an exclusive dinner with celebrity chefs and local farmers.)

But those who fork it over for those Picassos and Monets of the vegetable world will benefit not only their bellies — the proceeds will go to GrowNYC’s New Farmer Development Project and the educational Sylvia Center at Katchie Farm.