“I see being a member of the Slow Food Cooks Alliance gives me the opportunity to tell the incredible story of why I do what I do” Neil Forbes, Slow Food Scotland Cooks Alliance member, Cafe St Honore, Edinburgh
The Slow Food Cooks Alliance in the UK has joined Slow Food’s large network of hundreds of chefs committed to cooking and promoting products from the Slow Food Ark of Taste and other communities of local producers.
Slow Food UK’s Cooks Alliance engages UK based chefs in actively championing small-scale producers, and promoting good quality local and sustainably produced food.
The Cooks Alliance invites chefs and professional cooks who share our Slow Food values and are keen to work with our Ark of Taste programme. We encourage chefs to use seasonal Ark of Taste foods, helping us to raise awareness of these traditionally British products. We have been forging new relationships between chefs and producers, creating the important foundations to defend our edible biodiversity.
The network will extend to include chefs working in any kitchen which serves the wider public – pubs, schools, hospitals, event catering – and membership will be open to any chef who actively supports the values of Slow Food, and where possible uses products from the Ark of Taste, and local produce, as appropriate to the cuisine of their kitchen.
Andrew Link, a Cooks Alliance member at “The Riverside” in Hereford: “Chefs and restaurants are a vital link between producers and consumers. It’s both an opportunity and an obligation for chefs at all levels to provide a route to market for tiny producers, such as farmers and shepherds, who are working incredibly hard and don’t have time to promote themselves”
Cooks Alliance activities are run by Slow Food Cymru Wales, Slow Food England, Slow Food Northern Ireland & Slow Food Scotland depending on where you live. The administration of the scheme is carried out by Slow Food in the UK. To become a member of the Cooks Alliance or get information about the project, please email info@slowfood.org.uk
