Dear Slow Food Members and Supporters:

Past Events

Thank you all those who attended the Terra Madre dinner at Hardwick last Saturday. It was great pleasure to cater for such a noble cause and I have sent a cheque of a further £135 in support to Terra Madre 2006. There will be pictures and a write up in features on our website shortly.

We also held the second Committee meeting on Monday 3 July and you will find the Minutes on our website, in Members only area. If you don’t know your username and password, please ask Jeremy Rowntree webmaster@slowfood-oxon.org.uk

July Events

This is a confirmation that the tea & coffee tasting will take place at 7.30pm on July 10th 2006 at Centre 70 The Kine Croft in Wallingford. Stephen Kitchin of Wallingford Tea and Coffee Co.Ltd will lead us through a tea tasting and talk about tea in general. He will also talk about coffee and we hope to have some samples of Ugandan coffee. We will then go in small groups to his shop as its only small. (Very small). You may have to park a distance away and walk, but there is plenty of parking in Wallingford. We look forward to seeing you all there. Let me know if you need a map by email.

The Book Club will also take place on Wednesday, 12 July at the Summertown Wine Café, 7pm. To book, email Liz Wilding elizabeth.wilding@slowfood-oxon.org.uk

Future Events

In August David Barbour will meet you at their Heath Farm, please follow details on our website www.slowfood-oxon.org.uk

SALONE DEL GUSTO AND TERRA MADRE PASSES

In the next weeks you will receive the programme of the Salone del Gusto by mail. As you might know the program is also available online at www.salonedelgusto.com in five languages. All events can be booked on the web site.

The international office of Slow Food will provide free passes for the 5 days of the Salone and Terra Madre to all the Convivia around the world. Having fewer than 100 members, we shall benefit from 2 passes. I have already offered my pass to Geraldene Holt and would like to nominate Jeremy Rowntree for the 2^nd pass in recognition of his great work on our website.

The passes will be delivered at the Slow Food Association booth that will be immediately before the Salone del Gusto ticket counters where they can be picked up by the entitled people.

I also have a lot of information on tours and events, registration forms etc for those who will be going to Salone. If you are one of them, let me know and I shall forward them to you.

Job Opportunity

Road pricing, whereby motorists are charged according to their use of roads, is central to the UK government’s transport strategy and a nation-wide scheme is possible within the next ten years. This could substantially
reduce ‘food miles’ and help to mainstream local sourcing, which is regarded as a gold standard for sustainable food systems. However, the future of UK road pricing hangs in the balance, and the government’s current focus on
reducing congestion could produce a scheme that makes long-distance road haulage cheaper, increasing food miles and forgoing the wider environmental, social and economic benefits associated with local sourcing.

The Food Ethics Council are seeking a first-rate researcher to lead on an 18-month programme of research, analysis and policy development that seeks to ensure that road pricing promotes sustainable food systems. If you are interested, I can email you the Job Description and further details.

Training Opportunity
The Istituto Superiore di Gastronomia di Jesi (AN), known as ItalCook, founded by Slow Food Italia and by the Commune of Jesi, will reserve 5 places for Slow Food members in their upcoming chef training course in September. This course will be discounted by 10% for members. The course is targeted to professional and amateurs with base skills. If you are interested I can email you details. Alternatively, please contact:
info@italcook.it

Sincerely,