A report just in from Becky Shaw, who organises the Slow Food Market at Southbank Centre, and has been a friend of the hive since back in the day:
"I've just come back from Turin, Italy, where I attended the Slow Food Movement's bi-annual international festival, Terra Madre, meaning 'Mother Earth'.
There were 8000 delegates from 153 countries: food producers, chefs, bee-keepers and farmers - some of whom hadn't even left their villages before - all funded by the movement to attend this 5 day event, to exchange ideas and discuss how to continue to champion traditional, sustainable methods of food production, which is under threat of eradication due to the industrialisation and homogenisation of food production. The only winners of the industry that food has become are the large corporations who dominate it; the rest of us, be it small producers, farmers, seed guardians, consumers and indeed the planet itself - we are all losers...unless we do something NOW to reverse this cynical trend. There were many beekeepers at Terra Madre, and stalls selling their wonderful produce as well as an exciting 'Honey Bar' where it was possible to have a go at honey tasting: