At the end of January, over 80 people gathered at organic bar-restaurant "Nectar" in Hale to attend Manchester Friends of the Earth's "Food for the Future" event. The group campaigns for "Real Food" (defined as foodstuffs which are organic, GM Free, locally sourced, fairly traded and often vegetarian) and launched its Real Food Guide to Manchester website in March 2004.
Intended both as a campaign fundraising event and an evening of fun and interest regarding food issues, the audience heard speakers such as Michele Barlow from the Slow Food movement (an international association that promotes food and wine culture, but also defends food and agricultural biodiversity worldwide; opposes the standardisation of taste, defends the need for consumer information, protects cultural identities tied to food and gastronomic traditions, safeguards foods and cultivation and processing techniques inherited from tradition and defend domestic and wild animal and vegetable species), Brigid Benson talking about the bid for Altrincham to become a Fair Trade town and Dave Coleman highlighting the links between thinking global when looking at our environmental impact and acting local in terms of making conscious decisions as to how we live and where we buy our food and drink.
The audience then enthusiastically tucked into an organic and fairly traded gourmet buffet provided by Nectar and many took time out to sign up to food, corporate and other related environmental actions at the campaign stalls or take part in the raffle for organic goodies donated by local ethical investment advisors The Gaeia Partnership, Duchy Originals, Green And Blacks and Doves Farm.
Organiser Dave Coleman commented, "Running this event has highlighted not just that people in Manchester are really passionate about their food and where it comes from, but just how many people are passionate about the organic movement and keeping our food free of GM contamination". In fact the event was so popular it was sold out well in advance and many applicants had to be turned away. "It's revealed a real appetite for these issues", Coleman commented, "and this event has been so successful we intend running another similar one in the next few months".
Sounds like you will need to get your orders in early!
Dave Coleman, Manchester Friends of the Earth (0161 834 8221, dave@manchesterfoe.org.uk)
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