Slow Food Awards honour Real Bread Campaigners

Peter Cook, Dara O hArtghaile, Clare Marriage and Andrew Whitley pick up plaudits.

Andrew Whitley. Credit: © Scotland The Bread

Real Bread Campaign and Scotland The Bread co-founder Andrew Whitley has been named UK Person of the Year in the Slow Food Awards 2021. He was nominated by Walter Mowat, Director of Slow Food Scotland, for his work at the forefront of Real Bread in Scotland and throughout the UK, including being "author of the definitive book on Real Bread."

Slow Food UK stated: "Andrew Whitley combines vision with practical productivity in his mission to promote the benefits of local bread from local grain for local people. For decades, he has proven himself a driven campaigner, determined advocate and sophisticated thinker, not just on baking and other 'Bread Matters' (the name of his seminal 2006 book), but food culture and the food system as a whole. Whitley sees both the desperate inadequacy of what passes for daily bread in this country and the real possibilities for its improvement - starting in the soil, ending up in the stomach and, on its journey, taking in benefits to biodiversity, nutrition, local employment, artisan skill, community empowerment, social justice, and flavour."

Other winners

Having been chosen by the Slow Food Awards 2021 as the Best Bakery in England, Real Bread Campaign ambassador Peter Cook’s eponymous dough den has also gained the title of best in the UK for the second year running.

Peter’s fellow Campaign ambassador Dara O hArtghaile’s team at Ursa Minor was crowned Best Bakery in Northern Ireland, while Clare Marriage of Campaign supporter Doves Farm was named Person of The Year for England.

As neither of the best bakery winners for Wales or Scotland has added their details to the Real Bread Map, we're unable to say if the make what we call Real Bread. If they do, they are more than welcome to put themselves on our map.

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Published Monday 13 December 2021

Real Bread Campaign: The Real Bread Campaign finds and shares ways to make bread better for us, better for our communities and better for the planet. Whether your interest is local food, community-focussed small enterprises, honest labelling, therapeutic baking, or simply tasty toast, everyone is invited to become a Campaign supporter.

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