MEDIA RELEASE – 14 July 2010
Three regular stallholders from the Capital Region Farmers Market have this week been selected to attend Terra Madre 2010 in Turin, Italy, this October.
The three stallholders – Canberra chef Kim de Poorter, Chris and Greg Stuart, Galloway beef farmers from near Hall and Lesley Williams, a cheese producer from Small Cow Farm in Robertson, are all members of Small Food Australia and were nominated to participate at Terra Madre, Slow Food’s world meeting of food communities.
“I was very surprised about being selected. I am a small producer but I try to be as active with Slow Food Canberra as I can be because it’s something I’m passionate about”, said Canberra chef Kim de Poorter who sells his range of fine terrines and pates at the market most weeks.
The three were selected by the Terra Madre organisers in Italy and are among 42 Australians chosen to attend. Other delegates include culinary icon Kylie Kwong and Sydney Koori Chef, Aunty Beryl Van Oploo.
Terra Madre is held every two years and combines 5000 small-scale farmers and fishermen with 2000 teachers, academics and youth to share experiences and build Slow Food’s ‘good, clean, fair’ food network across the world. Delegates attend workshops and panel discussions and explore food production issues such as biodynamic farming and genetic engineering. It’s a forum for creating links among food producers, cooks and chefs throughout the world.
“I am really looking forward to meeting like-minded professionals and well known celebrity chefs, making some good contacts and talking about food in Australia. I’d love to discuss alternative methods and techniques to help move away from importing some foods – we can definitely create foods here in Australia that are just as good or better that imports,” Mr de Poorter continued.
Peter O’Clery, a grower’s representative for the Capital Region Farmers Market, and long time supporter of Slow Food Canberra, congratulated the stallholders on their selection and wished them well for their journey to Turin in October.
“Terra Madre celebrates the joy of food and links together the people who make and grow food in a responsible way. The fact that some of our regular stallholders were selected is testament that the Farmers Market holds dear a similar ethos to Slow Food – that is sourcing foods from as close to home as possible and purchasing direct from farmers and growers,” Mr O’Clery said.
The Capital Region Farmers Market in Canberra is a genuine farmers market with over 100 stalls offering a diverse range of fresh food and agricultural produce straight from the producer to the customer. It is held every Saturday morning at Exhibition Park from 8 am to 11 am. All funds generated from the Market are fed back into regional communities and other projects chosen by the Rotary Club of Hall which founded the Market in 2004.