About

The Tracing Paper reflects Nick Saltmarsh’s interest in the origins of the food we eat, from ocean, field and hedgerow to supermarket, shop and kitchen. My first post – Why does it matter where our food is from? – says a little more about why I care about the provenance of food.

Living to eat

Good food has always been an important part of my life. At school, equipped with Richard Mabey’s Food for Free, I foraged for sheep’s sorrel, cherry plums and samphire to supplement unsatisfactory school meals. Working on organic farms during university holidays, I developed a firm belief that the enjoyment of food and its production are inextricably linked – experientially, culturally and ethically.

After college, I spent a year on farms in Italy and Ireland, curing wild boar prosciutto, picking wild asparagus and fungi, weeding onions by the field and milking 40 goats by hand. Settling in London for a few years, I worked for an organic produce wholesaler, as a forager of wild mushrooms, and for a supplier of wild and specialist food to top London restaurants from Le Gavroche to Aubergine.

The draw of the East

A short spell in the mountains of North Wales convinced me of a deep yearning to return to my native East Anglia. Working seasonally as a tour manager for educational trips to Italy, I started to write on the history and production of food in East Anglia. Much of my past writing on the food and farming of East Anglia is collected under The Tracing Paper’s Food in East Anglia pages.

Since 2002, I’ve worked for East Anglia Food Link, an organisation working to develop and promote more local and sustainable food supply chains. Having joined EAFL to work on the creation of the Eostre Organics producers’ co-operative, I’ve since worked on a wide range of projects, involving producers, distributors, retailers and caterers.

Urban migration

Late in 2007, I moved with my family from rural Suffolk to urban London. I’ve maintained my connections with East Anglia, working freelance for East Anglia Food Link and frequently returning to visit friends and family, but am also finding renewed interest in London’s diverse food and complex food systems.

Provenance

In 2009, I joined up with Josiah Meldrum and William Hudson to found Provenance, a new partnership providing a wide range of supply chain management, marketing, consultancy and research services to food businesses across the supply chain, with an emphasis on supporting, promoting and developing more sustainable and local supply chains.