With spring in full-swing, Slow Food South Coast is on a mission to invite visitors and locals to discover the beautiful produce that is on offer in our region.

To help get to know local small-scale farmers and producers, Slow Food South Coast (previously Slow Food Shoalhaven) have developed their first producers’ guide.

The guide includes more than 70 local producers in the district, ranging from fresh fruit and vegetables, free-range meats, nuts, seafood, preserves, native foods, mushrooms and ‘providores’ – small scale grocery shops selling local food.

The project is supported with a much-welcomed grant from Shoalhaven Tourism.

“It has been so much fun driving around with our team of 4 to meet producers and collect their data for the guide,” project Leader Marianne Cool said.

“We thought we knew most of them already but we have found some exciting new treasures right here on our doorstep.

“Getting to know the people that grow and make your food will not only make for a much better food experience, it will also truly support our local food community, with the added benefit that the food will have travelled minimal miles to reach your plate.”

Slow Food President Rosie Cupitt said the ongoing drought has made many people question where their food is produced and how fair supermarket were in the prices they pay farmers.

“This is a tremendous effort and we are very excited that the directory is coming to fruition as part of our commitment to support and promote our local producers,” Mrs Cupitt said.

Shoalhaven City Council tourism manager Coralie Bell said the project was made possible through a marketing grant for $5,000 of matched funding.

“Our tourism team has enjoyed working on the design and promotion of this great guide, and we are sure it will be very well received. Agri-tourism is a booming industry, and promoting food and wine experiences in the off season is crucial to evening out the peaks and troughs in seasonality for our region.”

As a next step, Slow Food will be hosting a network event for producers, local chefs, restaurant owners and providores. The event will be a celebration of local produce and will see the formal launch of the directory as well as the awards of the inaugural Slow Food “Snails of Approval” to selected local eateries, producers and providers that are heroes when it comes to promoting local food.

The directory will be widely available from the middle of November. 

The guide will be printed and distributed widely throughout the Shoalhaven and an online version on www.slowfoodsouthcoast.org.au will ensure more producers can be added and details are kept up to date.

For more information, visit www.slowfoodsouthcoast.org.au or contact Marianne Cool on 0427 644 959.