Our Committee

Lucia Ortisi is a qualified chef and gastronomer who is passionate about the role that food plays in enriching our culture and identity. Italian by birth, Lucia started out practicing law until her entrepreneurial instincts got the better of her. Keen to share her love of Mediterranean culture with the wider world, she set up and directed a study abroad programme in her native Sicily that taught everything from Mediterranean diet to immigration and was eventually acquired by an American university. Now firmly established in Edinburgh with her family, Lucia has completed her studies in gastronomy at Queen Margaret University, so that she is in a better position to put nutritious, sustainable and delicious food at the centre of her work.

Jacqueline has supported the Slow Food movement for the past four years. With roots in the Scottish countryside, she is passionate about helping local producers thrive and connecting communities with high-quality local food.
Growing up in the Scottish Lowlands gave her a strong appreciation for sustainable food production and high animal welfare standards. She is keen to learn how best to preserve and pass on traditional food-growing knowledge and skills to younger generations, helping to strengthen the connection between people, food, and local communities.

Originally from Romania, Sorina grew up with a deep appreciation for produce seasonality, foraging and traditional ways of sourcing food from the land, an outlook that has stayed with her and still shapes how she thinks about what ends up on our plates. Over the years, this has grown into a strong interest in sustainable food systems and community projects, particularly good, clean and fair meat, and support for farmers and producers who uphold high animal welfare standards. Wild Scottish venison is a particular passion of hers, and she's a keen advocate for it as a natural, sustainable choice for meat-eaters. Through this work, she has helped organise events that celebrate Scotland's incredible food culture and connect people with the producers behind it, creating experiences that bring people together around great food and showcase the best of local produce.

Mike Wilson developed an interest in local food systems and food heritage during five years of intensive work travel across Scotland after university. His Slow Food involvement started by chance after he attended a film screening of Leviathan in 2014, hosted by Slow Food Edinburgh, and was seated beside their Chair. Those discussions led him to volunteer at the Edinburgh Farmers' Market Stall, be co-opted onto the committee and elected at the 2015 AGM. Mike ran a program of activities at the market stall and Edinburgh Food Festival, helped to re-launch the Slow Food Youth Network in Scotland, operated the Leith Food Assembly and assisted Slow Food Scotland activities. He was elected a trustee of Slow Food Scotland at the 2019 AGM and is the current Treasurer.

Slow Food has been part of my life since a young age, introduced by my father—our family is originally from the South of Italy, where eating well is a way of life. I'm delighted to join the committee and bring that lifelong connection to Edinburgh. For me, the fight to make good, clean, and fair food accessible to everyone—especially working-class families—is urgent, particularly in the UK. I am trained in fermentation and food science at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo Italy. The areas I am mostly interested in are growing food, local producers, and community outreach.