Portsmouth Business School
Celebrity chef brought cooking to life at Freshers' Fayre
Wed, 28 Sep 2011 12:28:00 BST
Portsmouth was the first University in the country to host the Slow Food cooking bus at its Freshers’ Fayre for students to learn to cook with Michelin star chef, Francesco Mazzei from Saturday Kitchen Live.
The cooking bus came to campus after a group of Portsmouth Business School students founded a ‘Slow Food’ society earlier this year, part of a global movement which aims to counter the rise of fast food.
The Slow Food movement was established to encourage people to choose nutritious food from sustainable, local sources, which tastes great. Launched in Italy in 1989, it aims to reconnect people with where their food comes from and how it is produced.
Hospitality Management student, Elena Kritikos, is President of the group at Portsmouth. She said she was inspired by course leader, Robin Shepherd, after he delivered a lecture introducing the Slow Food movement.
Elena said: “When Robin told us about the Slow Food movement I thought it sounded fantastic and was keen to get involved straightaway. But just joining as a member didn’t seem to be enough – I wanted to spread the word.
“We started off with 18 members and held a barbecue to launch the initiative earlier this year. We sold locally sourced sausages and burgers and handed out flyers about eating good, clean and fair food. It was a great success. I’m passionate about food and believe it’s really important for students to think about what they are eating.”
The group is now planning to develop a directory of Portsmouth retailers specialising in local food products, create recipes for student and organise trips to local producers, farms, vineyards and micro-breweries. They also have plans to start an allotment on campus that they will share with local members of the community.
Lecturer Robin Shepherd said: “I’m impressed at how quickly the students have launched this group and am proud of their commitment to ensure its success. The Slow Food movement is a superb concept to spread the word that good healthy fresh foods can and should be, not just the way forward, but fun too. I am really delighted that the students have taken on the project with such enthusiasm.”