The Slow Food movement was founded in Italy in 1986 in response to the opening of a McDonalds restaurant at the foot of the historical Spanish Steps in Rome. It is a backlash against cheap, mass-produced fast food – hence the name - and the increasing loss of interest in cooking and taking time to enjoy meals.

Bristol is home to the world’s first regular Slow Food Market, held on the first Sunday of every month on Corn Street. It is Bristol’s biggest market and fills the streets with delicious and often unusual produce. The Slow Food manifesto demands that food is regional and seasonal and aims to protect rare and traditional foods and methods which are in danger of becoming obsolete. An example of such a food can be found right here in Bristol in the form of tempting Somerset artisan cheeses.

The Corn Street Market offers everything from cider and wine to meat and chocolate, and the sheer variety on offer is simply astonishing. Local foodie heroes such as Pieminister, Quartier Vert and the Real Olive Company rub shoulders with small traders from further afield. The friendly stallholders are more than happy to give their expert advice; an opportunity that you simply don’t get at the supermarket. Amusing selling techniques abound, including one stallholder who insists that his organic wines are hangover free.

Bristol’s Slow Food Market is well worth a visit. With Bristol City Council right behind it and the recent surge of interest in all things green, hopefully it will continue to grow in following and size over the next few months. Simply browsing the stalls on a Sunday afternoon was enough to remind me that most of us just don’t spend enough time thinking about our food and where it comes from. However, if the warm fuzzy feeling of doing your bit for the environment isn’t enough to tempt you, maybe the abundance of free samples will.

www.slowfoodbristol.org

Alicia Roberts