Dear Members,
I want to thank you first and foremost for your support of Slow Food. This is a time of change and growth. It is also a moment to pause and reflect on what Slow Food means in the United Kingdom and what it could be. It is a moment where food security and the basic right to good, clean and fair food for all are actively debated by politicians, the public and the media. As a valued member of Slow Food you are already contributing to that debate, as an advocate for a better food system and participating in Slow Food activities, be it a producer visit or a convivial event in your community, you help raise awareness of what the movement is all about.
In recent months, Henry and I have been lucky enough to meet many of you personally. We have heard what Slow Food means to you and what you want it to achieve in your community. You all have a special understanding of what Slow Food means. We enjoyed the contrast, on the same day, of sharing a breakfast of freshly caught fish with a convivium leader whose day job is a surgeon and, later in the evening, meeting a convivium leader and acclaimed food writer. The feedback has been varied but linked by a shared belief in our movement and how it can demonstrate that pleasure and responsibility are essential elements in our food choices. We continue to meet leaders, members, producers and chefs, and by Autumn we will have visited every convivium and invited every member to tell us what Slow Food means to them and what they want for the future. You have been frank and vocal in saying what you think. Some are passionate about the details of food production methods and might reject a baker that used a flour improver, whatever other attributes the bread may possess, whilst others focus on the bigger picture and see the whole UK food system in need of a massive injection of good, clean and fair food and are worried that the majority of the population may only ever eat industrial white bread. Slow Food is proud of all that it has achieved to date but must now explore ways to engage, enthuse and inspire a greater following in the UK.
In the last decade Slow Food has evolved and whilst it continues to recognise the importance of preserving and enjoying traditional artisan foods and food culture, it also strives for the far more ambitious goal that good, clean and fair food is a right for all. If we are to have any impact in making the UK food system better, cleaner or fairer, we need many more than 2,500 members in a country of over 60 million. In this globalised world where international brands are all powerful, Slow Food can use some of that power in connecting people to create a powerful voice for intelligent change in our food system. We must build on the work of the last few years. We are on a journey and our mission is to get as many people as possible to start this journey that Slow Food epitomises towards good, clean and fair food for all.
Our visits to members and producers have highlighted the need for support of producers committed to producing food without compromising quality and taste, using traditional methods and breeds without cost and profit as the guiding principal. Slow Food must do more to support the artisan producer making good, clean and fair food which stands out in a sea of bland, industrial alternatives. If we are to succeed with our message, we must swell the number of people producing quality food in a sustainable way. Slow Food can play a key role in connecting consumers with producers and helping ensure that care in food production is valued, rewarded and nurtured. Henry and I have met with producers in the Ark of Taste and Presidia. I have also met with Presidia producers in other countries. We are re-evaluating how we can benefit producers and develop a robust future for both the Ark of Taste and Presidia in the UK. I am passionate about ensuring that the opportunities available to these producers match or exceed what is available in other countries.
The task facing us will require considerable effort, ingenuity and resources. Slow Food UK needs income far beyond what current membership fees bring in to the organisation. In common with other national associations, we make a substantial donation to the international work of Slow Food in Africa, Asia, South America and elsewhere in the developing world. This is why I have been working hard these last months to secure the financial viability of Slow Food UK.
We already have good news. We not only have the renewed commitment of the Sheepdrove Trust and Peter and Juliet Kindersley, but also welcome new supporters: The Balvenie, Lavazza and Grana Padano. A stable financial base is essential to growth, nationally and internationally. The stability of our financial position has allowed us to forge ahead with our children's fun, interactive education project, The Taste Adventure, designed to educate the young about the five senses. The response from members and leaders has been massively positive. We will continue to bring The Taste Adventure, hand in hand with local convivia, to your local area. Please check out the projects page of our website to see a video of how it looks and do call us if you would like to see it brought to your area.
We have been gathering these ideas into our strategic plan for the next 3 years. This has been sent to convivium leaders for comment and we will share this with you shortly. We welcome comments and ideas from anyone with views on how we should achieve our vision.
Slow Food is for everyone and we hope you will join us in the exciting and pleasurable moments we have ahead of us.
Many thanks,
Catherine Gazzoli, Chief Executive, Slow Food UK Trust
An inspiring drawing by Cumbria member Mark Richards
Convivium Visits
Our colourful convivium tour around the UK in July and August took us all the way from Liverpool to Cumbria, North Yorkshire and Derbyshire, then down to Somerset, Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. We are proud to have met so many passionate and dedicated convivium leaders, members, producers, breeders, fishermen and chefs who hold up the banner of good, clean and fair food. In Somerset, we met with master cheese maker Jamie Montgomery of world renowned Montgomery's Cheddar, part of the Slow Food UK Artisan Somerset Cheddar Presidium - which also includes the cheddars of Richard Calver of Westcombe Dairy and Stephen and George Keen of Moorehayes Farm.
In Plymouth's "slowest" restaurant, Cuisine Spontanée, member and chef Jacques Marchal cooked up a delicious seafood breakfast with freshly caught treasures from the team's trip to the market that morning.
And in Dorset Norman and Michelle Jones, breeders of rare breed Portland Sheep listed in the Slow Food Ark of Taste, introduced the team to their incredibly beautiful sheep. All in all, the trip was an excellent opportunity to meet, experience and enjoy the incredible diversity we are blessed with, cultural and geographic diversity, food and production diversity and leader and member diversity.
We thank all the inspiring people who welcomed us and helped us understand a little more about what Slow Food means at a local level.
Slow on the Road
We will be visiting convivia in Scotland from the 8-14 September and Wales from 28-30 September. Day trips will be made to meet with other convivia in the South East in October, including Hastings, Aylsham, Whitstable, 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.
Producer and Educator Profile
Master artisan baker and Slow Food member Paul Merry met with Catherine and Henry on their trip to visit the Dorset convivium. Paul has been involved with craft baking and masonry ovens for over thirty years, and has been teaching courses for fifteen years. He kindly took the SFUK team on a tour around the watermill, Cann Mills near Shaftesbury in Dorset, where a range of flours are made using its traditional stones and sieves. Next door, Paul holds a wide range of bread making courses. Here, Paul took some time away from his classes to answer a few questions...
So Paul, how did your interest in bread making begin?
Primarily I had a deep interest in crafts and their survival in our modern, industrialised world. As a young traveller, once when I had a job on a coastal boat in Queensland, the skipper ordered me to make the bread on one of the voyages. Years later, when I chose bread as the craft that I wanted to pursue, I am sure that the fascination with it was soundly boosted by those occasions when I made bread on the boat and cooked it on the beach in a "dutch oven" - a lidded cast-iron pot.
What's your earliest food memory?
Being excited by the bakery delivery man who jumped off his cart with the huge basket of fresh loaves in the crook of his arm, yelling "baker!" as he strode purposely to our back door.
What does Slow Food mean to you?
The charm of the name attracted me immediately, seeing as I was a person who had already formed a disdain for fast food. Beyond the charm of the name, as I started to find out more about the ethos of Slow Food I realised that my main empathy for it is in the area of its promotion and support for the smaller, distinct, regional producer who does not compromise quality for the all the other competing pressures of modern life and profitability.
What do you hope people take away from one of your bread making classes?
Knowledge that clearly helps them to make better bread, plus a respect for the ancient craft.
Do you have any upcoming projects?
I shall be guest teaching some courses away from Panary, and I have some interesting consultancy projects about to start where I nurture bakers who are just starting out.
What would your food wish be?
That Slow Food UK grows quickly and pushes forward to promote healthy and honest food in Britain's sadly inadequate food culture.
For more information about Paul's breadmaking classes see www.panary.co.uk
Convivium Event News
Edinburgh: Slow Home Suppers & Café Slow @ the Dovecot Reading Room
If any of you happen to be travelling to Edinburgh, SF Edinburgh would like to invite you to a Slow Supper @ Home, taking place in local members’ homes across the city. Every month, SF Edinburgh holds an informal monthly Slow Supper in a local restaurant, open to both members and non members. To celebrate Slow Food’s values of hospitality, homecooking and the sharing of food, and as a way of playing a part in Scotland’s Year of Homecoming, Slow Suppers are moving into members’ homes. Each supper will be for 5 to 8 people, with no fee to pay: your hosts will provide a main meal, guests will bring along a starter or pudding, and our generous local wine merchants, Wood Winters and Raeburn Fine Wines, will provide the wine. Please note that to attend a Slow Supper at Home you have to book beforehand, and the person booking must be a member of Slow Food. To sign up for a Slow Supper @ Home visit www.slowfoodedinburgh.co.uk.
In addition, as Slow Food's plan 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.
Bristol: Slow Music Launches in Bristol
The end of June saw the birth of Slow Music with the SF Bristol – one of our largest convivia – organising a wonderful opening Cuban Night event – Noche Cubana. The aim was to showcase music which is high quality, individual, human in scale, rich in cultural and geographic links, and also has an affinity with good eating and drinking, whether in cafes, pubs, brasseries or nightclubs. This was first event co-promoted by Slow Food Bristol, alongside organised new music promoter Escargophone Productions, and a special menu of evolved Cuban dishes and rum cocktails food was prepared by Slow Food chef member Chris Wicks, chef-proprietor of Bells Diner. Set in the spacious and well converted premises of the elegant old 1930s Cheltenham Cinema, now known as Jesters, music came from Son del Tropico, a classic example of Cuba’s inexhaustible supply of great bands. For more information visit www.slowfoodbristol.org.
Global Network: Slow Food Central Rift Convivium Sends Thanks to SFUK Members
SF Central Rift Convivium in Kenya have expressed their great appreciation for the generous donations from Slow Food UK members last year, which assisted community rebuilding after the election turmoil of 2007. SF Central Rift 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 itheir 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 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.
Terra Madre Day
The twentieth anniversary of Slow Food International falls on 10 December 2009 and will be celebrated worldwide in the 132 countries where Slow Food is active. Terra Madre Day, as the anniversary has been named, will celebrate eating locally and the dedication and work of Terra Madre food communities - the network of farmers, artisan producers, cooks, academics and youths launched by Slow Food in 2004 to promote sustainable food production.
When: 10 December 2009
How to celebrate: Terra Madre Day could be celebrated by organising: a celebratory meal, an excursion to producers, a farm visit, a film and cultural event, a campaign, food and taste education activities, or local Terra Madre gatherings – bringing together producers, cooks, researchers and young people.
The Terra Madre network was launched by Slow Food in 2004 to give a voice and visibility to small-scale farmers and food producers, and bring them together with cooks, academics, youth and consumers to establish a good, clean and fair food system. In a world dominated by industrial agriculture, Terra Madre actively supports a small-scale, sustainable, local food production model - the embodiment of Slow Food’s vision and philosophy. For more information visit www.terramadre.org.
Slow Presence Around The UK
There are many interesting and varied Slow Food events taking place nationwide, including everything from farmers' markets to producer visits, taste workshops and convivial meals. The events listed below are just a sample of what is on offer over the coming weeks:
4 September - SF Berkshire-Wiltshire Film screening of 'The Age of Stupid'.
10 September - SF Fife organise Slow Harvest with summer fruits & ice-cream at Cairnie Fruit Farm.
11-12 September - SF Berwick-Upon-Tweed at the Berwick Food Festival. www.berwickfoodfestival.com
11-13 September - SF West Highlands & Islands, SF East Highland & Moray at EatBute. www.eatbute.com
19-20 September - SF Brighton & Lewes at Glynde Festival.
www.glynde.co.uk
19-20 September - SF Hastings at Hastings Seafood and Wine Festival, Hastings. Hastings seafood festival
18-27 September - SF North Yorkshire at York Food and Drink Festival. www.slowfoodnorthyorkshire.com
26-27 September - SF Worcester at Malvern Autumn Show. Support for Perry Stand. www.slowfoodworcestershire.org.uk
2-4 October - Slow Food Aylsham at Aylsham Food Festival www.aylshamfoodfestival.co.uk
8 October - SF Cornwall & YFM screening of 'The End of The Line' at Fifteen Cornwall. www.slowfoodcornwall.com & www.youthfoodmovement.org
11 October - SF Rutland & Lincs at Annual Mushroom Foray at Woodhall Spa.
17 October - SF West Yorkshire at The Edible Fungi Foray.
www.slowfoodwy.org.uk
For more details on events and convivium contact details, where websites are not listed, please visit the interactive map and events page on our website www.slowfood.org.uk.
Last Call For Good, Clean and Fair Producers
The deadline for applications for the each of the Autumn BBC Good Food Shows is 4 September. If you would like an application form for a bursary or subsidised stand please contact: Sue Braithwaite s.braithwaite@slowfood.org.uk. For further information about the shows please visit our websites www.bbcgoodfoodshow.com, www.slowfood.org.uk.
Links We Like
National Trust Food Glorious Food - www.lovebritishfood.co.uk
Low Impact Living - www.lowimpact.org
All About Tea - www.allabouttea.co.uk
National Meeting
Please be reminded that the Slow Food UK National Meeting will be held at the Southbank Centre on Saturday 31 October. Two representatives from each convivium can attend the meeting and will be able to enjoy the Slow Food market and exciting activities we have planned for the day.
Cheese 2009
Cheese takes place from 18-21 September in Bra, Italy - the hometown of Slow Food. The event aims to educate visitors about the history and diversity of the world of cheese. There will be 37 cheese workshops, led by cheesemakers and affineurs (cheese agers) from around the world, along with various tasting booths, street food and ‘dinner dates’ at local farmhouses and restaurants. www.cheese.slowfood.it.
