Slow Food gears up

Slow Food, an Italian organisation with an international reach, that stands for local, home-grown products, recently imported an American former UN worker to take over the head of their UK branch. Contradiction in terms, or winner recipe?

Catherine Gazzoli is a bit of a non profit success story. At 32 she has been heading the Slow Food UK Trust for almost a year, planning its overhaul from small local non profit to social revolution maker. A New Yorker with family in Italy, she came back to the country to complete postgraduate study, where she was able to “reconnect” with her roots. Starting her career with the FAO and rising up through the ranks of the UN, she didn’t forget where she came from. “Where I am now feels like I have completed a holistic circle,” she says of her move from peace builder to CEO of a branch of one of the most successful Italian non profit groups.

But Slow Food in the UK wasn’t doing as well as its global reputation would suggest. Although its principles appealed, a “lack of good central management” and the “high standards” to keep it on track, meant that Gazzoli’s task was far from an easy one.

Vita Europe caught up with her to find out how she was enjoying her new life and what challenges she felt lay ahead.

 

What was the transition like crossing over to work at Slow Food?

I really valued my time at the UN so it was a big move for me to no longer work for the organisation. I started off by testing the waters a bit and dividing my time between one and the other. I really liked the challenge though so I eventually decided to completely move last spring and take over the helm of Slow Food UK.

 

Where did the challenge lie?

When I took over Slow Food UK, I literally re-started it. I moved it to the very centre of London – to Neal’s Yard, just off Covent Garden. I also moved in right next door to the headquarters to be able to be as hands on as possible. Even though Slow Food is an international organisation, when I took over in the UK it was like setting up a start-up.

 

Neal’s Yard is a great place to have Slow Food…

It is certainly. We have set up the offices to be like a shop so people can come in and talk to us, and find out about what we are doing.

 

What made you want to be so involved?

It all ties in to who I am and where I come from.

There is a whole way of life which I can see dying out in my grandfather’s village in the mountains of northern Italy. My family live off their land and have a food shop, and so I was always exposed to this kind of slow food set up.  At the FAO, my first project was working on cassava in Africa and Brazil, trying to get local communities to continue eating and valuing their indigenous crops.

 

Why did SFUK need a re-launch?

It wasn’t making the kind of progress that it could have been making, not because of its founding principles, but it hadn’t been set up in a way that could leverage its objectives in a professional way. The structures were lacking to move forwards.

 

What structures have you set up within the organisation?

I set up a board of experienced trustees, an advisory group and ethical guidelines. I made sure that the organisation met the requirements of British standard boards and properly manage funding streams from donors. My father was an auditor at the UN, so transparency and accountability are part of who I am.

It all makes my job harder but it’s what we need.

 

How do you find working in a British context?

I love it. I love its ethics its level of professionalism that is difficult to find anywhere else. Thanks to this and despite its name, Slow Food is moving at a pretty dynamic pace. 

 

In Italy, Slow Food is often associated to having a good meal in a good restaurant. How much is that true in the UK?

It’s less well-known of course, but I think that’s a good thing. I want it to be known for the right reasons and not for it to be seen as elitist. I do not want it to be associated with expensive ingredients or a certain socio-economic demographic. It should really be about helping people think about the story behind the food on their plates – and education.

 

How aware is the British population of the principles you stand for?

Well slow food is good, clean and fair; and I think that the British are outstanding at understanding the clean and fair bit but less so when it comes to the good.  Indeed what makes us so attractive in the UK and the US is precisely that. If the food doesn’t taste good, it doesn’t matter whether it’s fair trade, you’re just not going to buy it.

I think this is why we are growing so much – this is what people want.

 

Any good food out there?

My Italian friends do make fun of me, but they’re wrong: there’s so much good food here. It even varies from region to region, very similarly to Italy. I just made lunch for a friend using something called cider perry vinegar, which is from Shropshire. What makes a food special you see is its fitting in to a particular region.

 

Best part of the job?

Being sent lamb in the post.

 

www.slowfood.org.uk