Katy Davidson was born in Cornwall starting life in St Ives where her father was a lifeguard and her mother made and sold jewelry on the beach at Porthmeor. She currently lives in Newquay, Cornwall and works as a Marketing, Sales & PR professional and a published journalist specialising in food culture and sustainability.

Katy's father Bruce Davidson, opened a restaurant in Penzance in the early 70's called Patches. His ethos was simple; source good seasonal produce from local farmers and cook wholesome delicious produce in an atmosphere of music, poetry and lively discourse. He set up a barter exchange with the local farmers who provided produce in return for meals out at Patches with their families.

Katy sees her father as the main inspiration for her dedication to the pursuit of provenance and pleasure where food is concerned. She grew up being taught to bake bread by him, taken out for walks in the countryside where she'd be taught about what wild foods she could eat and dad always made sure that whereever they lived there was a garden with a section for her to experience growing her own vegetables and fruit. Even the smallest square metre patch would create a delight in seeing lettuce and carrots reaching fruition. Inside the house there was always a demi-john of wine blob-blobbing away in front of the fireplace or a jug of yoghurt fermenting in the airing cupboard.

This affinity naturally grew into a passion for food, cooking and a respect for the source of this produce, our mother earth. Add to this Katy's strong roots in Cornwall, a place which is often considered as distinctive as a separate country and her passion for the County and it's food is clear.

One of Katy's greatest desires is to see a de-mystification of good food and the pleasure in sourcing it. She believes that the way in which the Media represents food can often leave the general public feeling like it is something that only professionals or a elite few can lay claim to. The pleasures of the table should be for everyone to enjoy and sharing your dinner table with family and friends is one of the greatest pleasures there is. Katy's memories of joining the adults at the dinner table as a small child were of discussion, humour, bonding and creative thought. She feels that this forum for a child in the family is an essential part of life and growth. A Time Magazine article in 2006,has gone so far as to say that “the more often families eat together, the less likely kids are to smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating disorders and consider suicide, and the more likely they are to do well in school, delay having sex, eat their vegetables, learn big words and know which fork to use.”

Katy believes that connecting with your food and where it comes from is essential and has set herself a challenge as far as eating meat is concerned, (as a confirmed 'meatatarian' in a world where meat eating is not always sustainable) that she will face her food and will only eat something if she is prepared to kill it herself. The beginnings of this are her passion for fishing, something irresistible when living on the Cornish coast. She has also taken part in grouse and pheasant shoots; being successful in the latter. The challenge of facing a cow at some stage will be the decider on wether she will be able to eat one of her favourite meals in the future - a lovely big steak.

This combination of ethics and pleasure is the driving force behind her commitment to Slow Food, having chaired the local Convivium for three years.

Click Here to go back to the main site