Anne Elliot - On Slow Food, Cittaslow and Public Art

Anne originally grew up in Soutth-west NSW  in a farming region,  but her professional life was spent mostly in Sydney where she Iived for a number of years.  Anne always felt drawn to the Blue Mountains , even when living in Sydney, and planned to eventually move here, despite knowing there would be a number of years travelling long distances to work.  Anne says that "the incredible natural beauty of the region, the distinctive villages and  strong community attracted me. I have lived in the Blue Mountains for over 20 years and don't think I could live anywhere else!"

Anne continues...

"My understanding of sustainability is to live  in a manner so that future generations  of people, plants and animals can also enjoy this beautiful planet of ours.  I'm particularly interested in food as  it is something so fundamental.  We all have to eat and the choices we make here can have the most profound impact on our environment.  We can literally vote for the earth every time we sit at the meal table. In fact, the industrialisation of food has caused major damage and is contributing most significantly to climate change.  Slow Food of course, in  promoting "eco-gastronomy" covers all of this. Cittaslow also fits in with this because it promotes infrastructure to allow Slow Food to flourish.  It is an extension of the Slow Food movement. In an unpublished paper by Davis (2005) he describes Cittaslow as an urban economic leadership model and a way to achieve sustainable, economic development and social equity.

Prior to my involvement with Slow Food and Cittaslow, I was active for many years in the animal / environmental movement, working on a number of campaigns.In more recent years within the Blue Mountains, along with a number of other community groups and individuals,  I campaigned  (unsuccessfully) to have policy put in place protecting our region against any more fast food chains, realising the negative impact such chains have on our environment,  welfare of farm animals, local economy and of course local employment.

With several other founding members, Slow Food Blue Mountains was formed in 2004 and in December - March 2007, along with key people in our community, the Council and business, I coordinated and gathered information for a detailed self-assessment of the Blue Mountains region  in order to be given Cittaslow accreditation - the first in the southern hemisphere, along with Goolwa, South Australia. I'm also passionate about public art , conceiving / coordinating the Reverence Mural  in Waratah Street, Katoomba (painted by a number of local artists in 2006  to commemorateYear of Tibet), and the bus shelter mural in Dr Alex Alan Park . Plans are now underway for another mural depicting the region's 4,000 moths and butterflies.  Public art not only adds beauty and interest to a region, it "slows" people down, enticing them  to walk through our towns and villages, and builds social capital!"

In reflecting on what she has learnt along the way, Anne reminds us that "it's very important to be positive!.  Again, that's where Slow Food and Cittaslow are so ground-breaking. They give clear direction  . . . a positive way forward . . . and in so doing, draw in many people along the way."

Some of the great outcomes resulting from Anne's leadership on Slow Food and Cittaslow include a greater pride in using local products and produce, reduction in food miles and assisting our local economy.  Anne notes that there is a "much greater  consciousness of food miles, community health and food security and hopefully, a more compassionate community towards animals. Animals are part of our environment, too!"

In response to the question about ongoing challenges, Anne says "keeping up with climate change and peak oil!  There is an urgent  need for our community to be  much more self-reliant in areas such as growing our own food and with that, re-skilling ourselves  so that we can store harvested food.  Cittaslow's  A Kitchen Garden in Every Blue Mountains Home project in partnership with Oasis Horticulture, aims to have most Blue Mountains' residents growing their own  leafy green vegetables by 2011."

Below: The official Cittaslow Katoomba Blue Mountains presentation with Roberto Angelucci, International President of Cittaslow; Mayor Jim Angel; Anne Elliot; Stefano Mocio, Vice-President of Cittaslow and Bernadetto Latteri, Consul-General of Italy.

This item was posted in September 2008.