Executive Committee

Slow Food Hunter Valley Team 2023

Marcus Bridges (Leader)

Marcus has made a career out of selling, making, and talking about wine (hard life!). Having managed liquor stores in London, worked as a cellar hand and lab technician in wineries and vineyards in New Zealand, Australia and California, Marcus is now part of the Tamburlaine sales team.

Marcus says he has never happier than when in the garden or kitchen growing veggies and cooking them, creating delicious meals. He loves pickling and preserving the harvest and learning new kitchen skills. With Slow Food Marcus is hands on – this is evident in his constant attendance at the Earth Market every other Thursday and his time in the Food Rescue Kitchen chopping, slicing and dicing!  During lockdown Marcus went back to university and studied for a Diploma of Sustainable Living. Being part of Slow Food and its advocacy for good, clean, and fair food for all, is a crucial part of Marcus’s sustainable living journey and he would love it to be part of yours as well! As Marcus says, “you, your family, your community, and the planet will be better for it”. 

Helen Hughes (Assistant Leader)

Helen has been involved in the hospitality industry for many years. She had many wonderful mentors who fuelled her passion for good food & service and this lead to her training role at Hunter TAFE.

Over the last 25 years she has taught many front-of-house students and apprentice chefs who have gone on to make their mark in the industry. She has also been a regular attendee of the Symposia of Australian Gastronomy which bring together a dynamic community of local and international food scholars, designers, farmers, chefs, artisans and passionate eaters.

Anne Kelly (Honorary Secretary)

Anne is a passionate educator who has worked in a number of schools in the Hunter Valley and overseas. She worked for a number of years as a quality control officer in a refractory plant before BHP departed Newcastle. She currently has an executive role working in the early years area of a large primary school. Anne co-manages the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden program as the garden specialist at her school, which sees 130 children participating in the program each fortnight. Having spent several years at the helm of Slow Food Hunter Valley, Anne has now taken on the role of Honorary Secretary. 

Matt Kerr (Honorary Treasurer)

One of the things I value is fairness and unfortunately I witness too often the saturation of large national and multinational corporations that obliterate the smaller businesses that are trying to make a difference in their industry. This issue is all too real when it comes to food, which ignited my passion for growing food, understanding where my food comes from and the challenges associated with getting this food from the paddock to the plate – there are so many things that can go wrong on this journey. I feel many people don’t appreciate the efforts needed to create the food we eat, which is why I joined Slow Food in an effort to educate and promote the value of fairness in the food chain. During my day job I help people in small to medium businesses make the most of their lives, developing and implementing financial strategies that allow them to do the things they want in life whilst letting them focus on what is important to them and what they are good at. 

Ruth Adams (Membership Coordinator)

Ruth was born into a large extended farming family. Growing up on a property on the Northern Tablelands of NSW she developed a deep understanding – and working knowledge – of where much of our food comes from. This – together with a passion for learning and education in the areas of nutrition, hospitality, event management and food technology – made joining Slow Food a “perfect fit” for this now urban dweller who is vitally interested in the politics of food and in making a difference. 

Ordinary Members

Three Ordinary Members of our Executive Committee during 2020 are:

Kendall Harrison

Margaret Kavanagh

Honey Wilcher

Project Leaders

Our project leaders for 2020 are:

Food Rescue Kitchen: Margaret Kavanagh

Earth Market: Amorelle Dempster

Social Media: TBA

Website: Liz Griffiths

Ark of Taste: Ian Clarke

Earth Market Maitland Cookbook: Amorelle Dempster

Maitland Show: Amorelle Dempster

Tocal Field Days: Helen Hughes

Seed Library Coordinator: Kendall Harrison