Slow Food UK Visits Producers in Wales
Slow Food UK team members Cat and Henry met highland farmers in Wales on a visit to Carnau Farm by HRH The Prince of Wales (below picture). Other guests included representatives of the Cambrian Mountains Initiative and Rachel's Organic. The Cambrian Mountains Initiative was founded by the Prince of Wales to support traditional farms in Mid Wales and help local food producers.
Other News
Our thanks to the members of Slow Food London group who volunteered along with the Slow Food UK team over the four days of the Taste of London show. Slow Food UK took part in the exciting event from the 18th to the 21st of June. Slow Food received many interest forms from potential members who had noticed both our own stand and the Slow Food leaflets on the stands of our supporter chefs.
Slow Food UK attended the Identità London chef congress on June 29th and 30th. Founded by the journalist and food editor Paolo Marchi in 2004, the gastronomic congress Identità Golose brings chefs from all over the world together to meet and exchange ideas. The forum typically takes place in Milan, but organizers recently decided to expand the idea by launching Identità London, concentrating on the very best of contemporary Italian cuisine. Special guests included René Redzepi, Carlo Cracco and Slow Food supporter chefs Giorgio Locatelli and Angela Hartnett. The event took place at Vinopolis on London’s Southbank. Grana Padano and Lavazza, sponsors to the new Slow Food in Neal’s Yard, were also supporters of the event. Special thanks go to Monica Brown of Lotus PR for inviting Slow Food London representatives to attend.
Slow Food UK returned to the BBC Good Food Show this year with even bigger producer pavilions. Small producers of Good, clean & fair food brought a tasty range of artisan products to discover. A number of the featured producers were awarded a Slow Food & BBC Good Food Show Bursary that enabled them to promote their products.
New products in the Slow Food pavilion this year included foods from Norfolk & Suffolk Speciality Foods, Havod Cheese, Cowran Estate and Pedigree Pork Producers, Keen's Cheddar Cheese, Muddy Boots Real Foods and Havard & Co Mutton. We were also joined by producers from previous shows, such as Boccadon Farm, Mahorall Farm Cider and Fish in a Box. Some of these producers also took part in the Taste Workshops, allowing visitors the opportunity to learn more about their production methods and their commitment to good, clean and fair food.
UK Food Security Assessment
Lately there has been a flurry of reports on 'food security' that has had Slow Food groups discussing what it really means. One report is Defra's UK Food Security Assessment. We heard from members that, although it is a real positive that the Assessment acknowledges that 'a lot must be done to secure the UK's food future' (we were not surprised down here at grassroots level), they felt more could have been said around local, home and community food production such as linking in to the 'grow your own' initiatives that are popping up across the country. Professor Tim Lang, Garden Organic's President, and Commissioner on the Sustainable Development Commission said about the Assessment, 'The UK needs to get to the bottom of what a sustainable food supply might look like. Home food production would be very valuable in that process, not just in producing food but in harnessing public goodwill and building community skills. There are no quick fixes to the UK's food challenges ahead but home food production deserves a higher priority'.
Honest Food Campaign
Lyndon Gee, SF Westminster Leader, recently organised a networking breakfast meeting in London, bringing together food writers, small producers, activists and major supermarket representatives. Most notable was the presence of Nick Herbert, the Shadow Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, who delivered a speech on the Honest Food Campaign. The campaign aims to get compulsory 'country of origin' labelling introduced in order to empower consumers and stop misleading packaging. Currently, meat imported from abroad and then processed in Britain can be labelled as British. Since being launched earlier this year, the campaign has won the backing of most of the large supermarkets including Tesco, M&S, Sainsbury's, Waitrose and Morrisons. Slow Food welcomes initiatives from all organisations and political parties that empower the consumer to better understand the real story behind their food purchases.
Ecological Debt Day
According to new research by the New Economics Foundation, the world has now entered 'ecological debt', due to continued over-consumption, excessive dependence on overseas energy and lower rates of self sufficiency in food production. The report - The Consumption Explosion: the Third UK Interdependence Day Report - was published on Friday 25 September, this year's ecological debt day, and details how the rate at which we are now depleting world resources and generating waste has exceeded the earth's biocapacity. For more information visit www.neweconomics.org
Bursary Award Winners for the Autumn BBC Good Food Shows 2009 - announced here
Terra Madre Global Network News
Slow Food Central Rift Kenya group have expressed their great appreciation of the generous donations from Slow Food UK members last year, which assisted community rebuilding post election turmoil in 2007. SF Central Rift Group Leader, Samuel Muhunyu, sent a personal thank you to our members, 'Your support has gone a long way in providing assistance to the suffering as they embark in reconstruction of their lives. You have demonstrated the true spirit of networking and brotherhood by sharing with them their difficult times'. Catherine met with Samuel at the International Slow Food meeting and he gave her an update on what your donations helped achieve. Funds were used to assist 141 project farmers and their families, with greatly welcomed spillover benefits to their local communities. SF Central Rift Group were able to provide support and basic tools for 98 project farmers and 4 school garden projects, and helped organise nine consultative forums. Our help has also enabled the convivium to step up their efforts towards sustainable community development and food sovereignty, having recently implemented two small water projects – one in Tuinuane IDP village in the Molo district and one at the Kokwa school garden project in the arid Baringo district.
Cafe' Slow at Dovecot Studios Reading Room
As Slow Food UK plans to make the movement more accessible to the general public, we are excited to announce that for the duration of August and September Slow Food will have a dedicated area within the newly commissioned Reading Room at Dovecot Studios, a working tapestry studio and exhibition galleries established in a converted Victorian Swimming Baths in the Old Town of Edinburgh. After enjoying the exhibitions running at Dovecot, this fantastic, relaxed space will provide visitors with an opportunity to learn more about the Slow Food movement and Global Terra Madre network with a cup of tea or coffee in hand. For further details visit www.dovecotstudios.com.
Slow on the Road
Having visited our groups in Scotland, Slow Food travelled to Wales in September to meet with members there. Day trips were made to meet with other groups in the South East in October, including Kent, Hastings, Whitstable (New Group), Warwickshire, (New Group) Bristol, and Brighton & Lewes. If you are interested in meeting with us to discuss local ideas or give us feedback, please contact us at info@slowfood.org.uk or call us on 020 7099 1132.
