2012 Keynotes

Internationally renowned speakers Naomi Duguid from Toronto and Andrew Whitley from Scotland will be the 2012 keynote speakers, strong evidence that the movement to re-localize grain networks strikes a chord in hearts and minds around the globe.   Naomi explores and writes about the foods and at-table customs
of distant cultures but she is equally observant of food as a lens through which we can understand human nature.  Andrew’s calling is to teach the craft of bread making as a practical and purposeful skill and as a stepping stone toward implementing a vision of a saner, healthier world.

Naomi Duguid:

In addition to Naomi’s far-reaching knowledge of breads and the world’s cuisines, her engaged sense of curiosity plus a penchant for spicy opinions and fresh perspectives charges the air around her and endears her to those of us who have been lucky enough to stand within earshot.

Traveler, writer, photographer, Naomi is often described as a culinary anthropologist.  She is the co-author of six award-winning books of food and travel, starting with the ground-breaking Flatbreads and Flavors: A Baker’s Atlas. The others are HomeBaking; Hot Sour Salty Sweet: A Culinary Journey Through South-East Asia; Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels in the Great Subcontinent; Seductions of Rice; and Beyond the Great Wall: Recipes and Stories from the Other China. In stories, recipes, and photographs, the books explore daily home-cooked foods in their cultural context.

Naomi is a contributing editor of Saveur magazine, writes a weekly blog, www.naomiduguid.blogspot.com, and conducts immersion food tours in northern Thailand each winter; see www.immersethrough.com. Her next book, Rivers of Flavor, celebrating the food cultures of Burma, will be published in autumn 2012 by Artisan.

Naomi was a guest participant at the 2011 Kneading Conference, one of several writers invited to exchange ideas about the future of food.

Andrew Whitley: 

Andrew is a well-known advocate in Great Britain for wholesome bread and the methods of agriculture and craftsmanship that produce and preserve it.  He is the creator of Bread Matters, a baking school dedicated to helping people take the matter of bread into their own hands.  He is also the author of Bread Matters, Why and How to Make Your Own.

Andrew:  “As millions wait to see if their jobs will survive the current recession, many feel angry that the culprits have got off lightly and that ordinary people are being sacrificed on the altar of a quick return to business as usual.  The speculators have piled into grains and the price of staples such as wheat is on the rise again.”  Why not step outside a system that serves the few at the expense of the rest of us and make our own bread?  Half the cost and twice the nourishment.

Andrew: “Rediscovering domestic skills like bread making means trading the ‘convenience’ of the ready-made for the satisfaction of greater self-reliance and a sense of fulfillment when the bread on the table is our very own.”  www.breadmatters.com