Crusty bread for sale at a farmers market

About Slow Food Melbourne

Slow Food Melbourne is the local chapter of the global Slow Food movement, connecting people with the growers, makers and producers behind their food. Through our monthly markets and community events, we celebrate food that's Good, Clean and Fair while supporting local producers and strengthening our local food system.

Saving a Convent

The Abbotsford Convent, perched on the banks of the Yarra River in Collingwood, almost became another apartment development. In 1997, plans were unveiled for a $70 million redevelopment that would have seen 289 apartments built and several heritage buildings demolished.

The local community fought back. Led by the Abbotsford Convent Coalition, residents spent seven years campaigning to protect the site. Their persistence paid off in April 2004, when Premier Steve Bracks stepped in and the Victorian Government gifted the convent to the community. The newly formed Abbotsford Convent Foundation became its custodian.

The convent had been saved. The next challenge was ensuring it could thrive.

The Market that Helped

In October 2006, Slow Food Melbourne launched its farmers' market at the Abbotsford Convent. Every month, thousands of people came through the gates to buy directly from Victorian growers, makers and producers, proving the site could thrive as a vibrant community destination.

It was Australia's first Slow Food-accredited farmers' market and remained at the Convent for 13 years. During that time, the Abbotsford Convent evolved into one of Melbourne's most celebrated cultural precincts and is now recognised on the National Heritage List.

Slow Fish

In 2014, the Victorian Government began phasing out commercial net fishing in Port Phillip Bay. While intended to protect marine ecosystems, the policy had an unintended consequence: it hit small-scale artisan fishers the hardest. These family-run businesses used traditional, low-impact fishing methods with almost no bycatch, targeting species classified as sustainably managed.

By 2019, the number of commercial fishing licences had fallen from more than 100 to just nine. Local seafood became increasingly scarce, prices rose, and imported seafood filled the gap.

Slow Food Melbourne responded by launching the Slow Fish Festival. The inaugural event was held in Spotswood in April 2018, bringing together renowned chefs Rosa Mitchell, Frank Camorra, Matt Wilkinson and Thi Le to cook alongside the fishing families themselves, celebrating sustainable local seafood and the people who catch it.

A second Slow Fish Festival followed in 2019, continuing the campaign to champion Victoria's remaining artisan fishers.

Moving West

After Abbotsford, Slow Food Melbourne turned its attention to Melbourne's inner west - a fast growing, culturally diverse region underserved by the kind of direct producer-to-consumer markets it had championed since 2006.

We now run four markets across Spotswood, West Footscray, Maribyrnong and Yarraville.

The Snail of Approval

In November 2023, Slow Food Melbourne held its first Snail of Approval awards ceremony in Williamstown. The Snail is Slow Food's international mark of recognition for producers, artisans, and chefs whose work embodies the movement's values of food that is Good, Clean and Fair.

Inaugural recipients included Rosa Mitchell, Matt Wilkinson, Rose Creek Estate, How Now Dairy, Gigi's Gelato, and Timor Coffee Roasters, among others.

The Snail of Approval