THE Slow Food Western Australia small food awards recognise and support the development of a ‘small, slow food’ culture in Western Australia. The awards were announced by Agriculture and Food Minister Terry Redman at a reception in Perth on Wed 14 Oct 2009 for Carlo Petrini, Slow Food’s international president and founder, during his first visit to Western Australia.

An initiative of Slow Food Perth, the first awards will be made from 2010 and will recognise to the best rural producers and enterprises using Slow Food’s good, clean and fair principles.

Food must be:

• good – fresh, flavoursome and seasonal, satisfying the senses, and part of local culture
• clean – produced in harmony with the environment and in ways that respect the earth, its animals, plants, and people’s health
• and fair – by which farmers and consumers benefit fairly from production and purchase

The awards will be made to producers and businesses in the following categories:

• rural enterprise
• indigenous food
• food heritage
• local grocer
• local butcher
• local cook or chef
• local vigneron or winemaker
• local hero
• school or community food garden

All producers – conventional, organic or biodynamic farmers, makers or enterprises in rural Western Australia – are eligible for nomination. The awards will also be open to metropolitan area grocers who can demonstrate a strong and consistent commitment to supporting small producers. Slow Food recognises the importance of the market in encouraging consumers to see themselves as co-producers – understanding where food comes from, who grows and makes it, the challenges that confront food producers and farmers, and the significance of recognising that we are all ‘farmers’ because of the food choices we make.

Slow Food Perth convivium co-leaders Pauline Tresise and Jamie Kronborg said that recognition of ‘small, slow food’ producers was important in building rural community sustainability.

‘Western Europe, where Slow Food was formed in 1989, has an age-old heritage of food production on a village – or small community – scale, where animal breeds, food crops and seasonality have always influenced food that is distinctly and identifiably ‘local’,’ they said.

‘There, local culture has dictated local food production and demand. Conversely, Australia has been dominated in the second half of the twentieth and the starting years of the twenty-first centuries by commodity-driven, export-orientated, broadacre agriculture.

‘Slow Food in Australia is setting out in 2009 to foster ‘small food’ in what might be called a ‘big food’ nation. We should do everything possible to encourage the maintenance of the rich heritage of small rural communities and food diversity. We see these awards as a significant way of sustaining rural community continuity and development and building a small, slow food culture in Western Australia.’

Nominations for the awards will open in January 2010. The inaugural awards will be presented next autumn.

Media statement
Agriculture and Food Minister 14 Oct 2009 PDF

Register your interest
The Western Australia small food awards’ nomination form and selection criteria will be available for applicants shortly. In the meantime, potential applicants can register their interest by completing a registration form. With the exception of the the metropolitan grocer category, applicants must live and work in rural Western Australia to be eligible for consideration.

Information
Pauline Tresise
T 08 9381 4519
Email
or
Jamie Kronborg
T 08 9293 1845
Email