Nicholas Craig column

Mar 30 2007 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

We are all being encouraged to EAT over Easter. I'm all for it. EAT is a festival to celebrate the range of local food and drink produces and served in the North-East.

A two-week festival of celebratory eating may be difficult to complete, but I will selflessly pursue it as an enthusiastic advocate of local produce. We have an extraordinary choice of regionally reared meat and freshly caught fish that regularly win awards for their quality. An excellent choice of vegetables and delicious puddings can entice even the strictest dieter.

It had not occurred to me the tastes of the North-East could directly affect our tourist numbers, but a survey recently identified NewcastleGateshead as one of the top 10 cities to dine in outside London.

Regional restaurants and visitor attractions are opting to increase the choice of local food on the menus. Northumberland lamb, Durham reared beef and saddleback pork deserve to be enjoyed by as many as possible.

The first Slow Food convivium in the North-East opened recently in Newcastle, founded by the Gusto Group. The international Slow Food movement was driven in response to the rise of fast food. Newcastle's Slow Food promotes a laid back approach, local produce and pleasure in eating good food. Who could argue with that?

Neighbourhood shops, farm shops and farmers' markets are central to the long-term success of quality local produce, however, and as long as they are supported we can continue to eat excellent food.

Apart from the restaurant route, there will always be a niche for the family butchers, specialist bakers or delicatessens which reach the parts that supermarkets can't. EAT gives us the excuse, if we need one, to treat ourselves by dining out or at home on fresh, tasty, local food.