Paris Cookbook Fair hosts first international exhibition of charity cookbooks
Howard Lake | 20 February 2011 | News
The first international exhibition of charity cookbooks will be held next month in Paris, marking the 200th anniversary of the originator of the fundraising tool.
Charity cookbooks have been popular fundraising tools for years, whether assembled by local supporter groups or featuring the latest celebrity TV cook. Originally an English language phenomenon they have spread over the past 20 years across the globe.
Gourmand International is hosting the first international exhibition of charity cookbooks next month at the Paris Cookbook Fair. The catalogue lists 240 cookbooks from 85 countries.
Edouard Cointreau, President and founder of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards and President of the Paris Cookbook Fair, attributes the popularity of fundraising cookbooks to two reasons. First, their production fosters a sense of community and team spirit, and secondly they offer an efficient and proven way to generate funds.
He traces the first fundraising cookbook back to London in 1847, a response to the Great Irish Famine. Chef Alexis Soyer wrote his book “Charitable Cookery or the Poor Man’s Regenerator” from his experience of feeding up to 26.000 people a day in Dublin. This year is the 200th anniversary of his birth.
The first American charity cookbook followed in 1864 to help support those wounded, widowed or orphaned by the Civil War.
Because The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards started receiving an increasing number of charity cookbooks, it was decided in 2008 to create a Gourmand Award for Charity Cookbooks. There is one award for best charity cookbook for each continent. The next Gourmand Awards Ceremony is in Paris on 2 March 2011.
The International Exhibition of Charity Cookbooks takes place during the Paris Cookbook Fair from 3 to 6 March 2011 at Le104 during the Paris Cookbook Fair, itself organised by Gourmand International.
www.cookbookfair.com
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.