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Food friendship Cooking and companionship have always been at the heart of the Women’s Institute. As the organisation celebrates its 100th anniversary, three members tell us why they joined and what they love to cook Feature JESSICA JOHNSON Portraits LOUISE HAYWOOD-SCHIEFER
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xcellence in home cooking and baking is something the Women’s Institute has long been famed for, writes Jessica Johnson. In fact, food is the reason the movement was started back in 1915. A year into the First World War, the WI was formed to encourage rural women to get involved in growing and preserving food to help increase the supply of produce across the country. Inspired by the Women’s Institute in Canada, the frst WI in Britain was formed under the auspices of the Agricultural Organisation Society in Anglesey, Wales. Since then, its aims have broadened – it is now the largest voluntary women’s organisation in the UK, with more than 212,000 members.
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Now, as the organisation celebrates its centenary, new members – from city-based businesswomen to countrydwelling mums – continue to emulate and cherish the skills of a bygone era by signing up to a local Institute. Some join to take part in national campaigning, others to fll the gap on many forgotten skills, such as craft-making and baking, or simply to forge friendships. Many of these needs echo the same reasons previous generations joined before them. When I visited members, with photographer Louise, there was always a warm, culinary welcome. It was cheering to be greeted with a homemade cake, fan, pie or biscuit served up with a cup of tea. You know you’re in safe hands when it’s WI fare.
bbcgoodfood.com
May 2015
