Slow Food in the UK is governed by its Board of Directors, overseeing the activities of pan UK projects. The Board is made up of a Director from each of the nations that form the UK, plus a representative for Slow Food International.
Slow Food in the UK – Board of Directors
Shane Holland (Executive Chair)
Board Director for England. UK Director for Slow Food International. Shane Holland is the Executive Chairman of Slow Food in the UK. He has held CEO positions within both the business and the third sectors and has chaired a number of large NFPS. His work has particularly encompassed food and health, access to food, and food and climate change – including being part of the COP26 delegation. Elsewhere in the third sector his work has specialised in regards to our most vulnerable citizens, their issues of food poverty & food skills, education, offending, and access to services. His other current roles include UK Ambassador for Venner the pan Europe charity tackling food poverty; trustee of Borough Market, and trustee of the charity United St Saviours, which gives grants to community groups and other charities of in excess of £1 million a year alongside running best in class almshouses. He is past chair of both Eat Club , the organisation that teaches food skills to young people, and Plan Zheroes, the platform that connects surplus fresh food with charities and people in need. A food writer – specialist subject, cheese – he also frequently sits on expert panels; appears both in print and on TV & radio; lectures at universities; has given a TED Talk as one of their “Architects of Tomorrow”; and carries out dozens of speaking engagements a year both within the UK and internationally.
Walter Mowat
Board Director for Scotland. Walter is a member of Slow Food Edinburgh and sits on the Board of Slow Food Scotland.
Paula McIntyre
Board Director for Northern Ireland. Paula has been a member of Slow Food for 3 years and represented the UK in the Terra Madre kitchen in Turin last year. Chef Alliance coordinator for Northern Ireland. She is a food writer, author of 2 cookbooks, writes a weekly column in the Newsletter paper, and broadcasts on BBC Northern Ireland with a weekly cooking slot on Radio Ulster. She is a judge on the BBC Radio Four Food and Farming Awards and has contributed to their Ark of Taste series. She lectures in professional cookery in a FE college in Northern Ireland. She works closely with the government body, Food NI and Tourism NI to promote food from Ulster at home and abroad.
Debbie Handley
Debbie is joint owner of Mostyn Kitchen Garden. Debbie’s experience is in developing and delivering commercially viable projects which upskill and build capacity, both in the charitable and commercial sectors. Since 2007 she has worked across Wales with food producers and farmers, working to raise the profile of local food with consumers and generate resilience in the local food supply chains .In 2013 Debbie led the Rural Regeneration Unit’s (RRU) Community Food Co-operative Programme to receive the Public Health Wales Good Practice Scheme Award and the Horticulture Wales Sustainability Award for Collaboration In Business. These were awarded in recognition of the efforts to make the programme sustainable, community led/owned and income generating. Debbie now works as a consultant on a number of Welsh Government supported projects including the Farming Connect Knowledge Transfer Programme, Tyfu Cymru and she leads the ACE Project which is a multi funded project aimed at supporting food and drink businesses with post Covid recovery.
Slow Food in the UK – Ambassador
Julius Fielder
Julius is a filmmaker and food stylist for a well-known chef in London. Born and raised in Germany, he first came to the UK to study and film the craft of artisanal cheddar-making, a journey which ultimately defined Slow Food for himself: In the pursuit of better food, we need to support all of the ecosystems around it. During the Covid pandemic, Julius shifted his focus from film to food. After hosting online sourdough baking classes under the name BakingHermann (a sourdough starter is called Hermann in Germany), Julius now films and shares his own food content on Instagram and TikTok (@bakinghermann) and focuses on the importance of biodiversity, seasonality, and craftsmanship content manager
Structure
Slow Food in the UK Trust is a not for profit company limited by guarantee which is affiliated to Slow Food International (SFI). It is an umbrella body for Slow Food England, Slow Food Scotland, Slow Food Cymru Wales, and Slow Food Northern Ireland. It has a wholly owned trading arm, Slow Food in the UK Enterprises Ltd, which donates all it’s profits to Slow Food in the UK Trust.
