The fourth world meeting of Terra Madre food communities will be held in Turin (Piedmont, Italy) on Oct, 21-25, 2010, parallel to the International Salone del Gusto. Terra Madre, launched by the Slow Food association in 2004, is a network of people that all over the world cultivate, transform, trade and cook, committed to strengthen local, traditional and sustainable production models. Terra Madre represents a different and more complex understanding of the quality of food products, taking into account environmental resources, the sensory characteristics of food products, the dignity of workers and the health of consumers.
Terra Madre is realized thanks to the efforts of the Italian Ministry of Agriculture Food and Forestries, the Cooperation for Development Department of the Italian Foreign Ministry, the Piedmont Regional Authority, the City of Torino and Slow Food in collaboration with Fondazione CRT, Compagnia di San Paolo, Associazione delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Piemontesi and Coldiretti Piemonte.
New in 2010
Cultural and linguistic diversity will take center stage this year, and thus also the protection of ethnic minorities and indigenous languages, and the recognition of the value of oral traditions and memory. The opening ceremony of the 2010 meeting will include representatives of some of the most important indigenous communities in the world, speaking to the audience in their mother tongue. The workshops throughout the event are dedicated to a deeper engagement with various topics which are crucial for the future of agriculture and the Planet such as biodiversity, renewable energies and traditional knowledge. At the official closing ceremony a programmatic document will be presented with the proposals of the network for a sustainable future.
The activities of the Terra Madre network
Terra Madre gains its vital energy from the meetings of the food communities that also take place on a national level, for example in Argentina, Belorussia, Brazil, Ethiopia, Ireland and the Netherlands.
The communities, conscious of their common destiny, are also always ready for actions of solidarity towards those that find themselves in difficulty, as in the case of Hurricane Katrina or the Tsunami that recently devastated Robinson Crusoe Island in Chile.
December 10, 2009, marking also the 20th anniversary of the Slow Food association, saw the first Terra Madre Day, a collective event on a global scale celebrating local, sustainable quality food with over 1000 local events: 600 in Europe, 120 in Nord and Central America, 105 in South America, 92 in Africa, 66 in Asia and the Middle East and 21 in Oceania.
Terra Madre 2008 in numbers
In 2008 Terra Madre has brought together in Turin
1650 food communities from all five continents
4000 farmers, breeders, fishermen and artisan food producers
153 countries of origin
800 cooks
300 university lecturers and representatives
1000 students
210 musicians
Terra Madre introduces a new protagonist in the field of food production: the food community. The future of agriculture lies in the hands of many people with diverse but interconnected competences: cooks, farmers, fishermen, wild food gatherers, breeders, scientists and others still. The traditional knowledge of food producers is bolstered by the activities of great chefs who help through their creativity to promote products and regions. Added to this are the official sciences with a large international contingent of researchers and university lecturers, all committed to a constructive dialog with the food communities to consolidate the encounter between traditional and modern knowledge, in mutual recognition of values and functions. Since 2004, the food communities of Terra Madre have been meeting in Turin, Italy every two years.
The four editions of Terra Madre
Terra Madre 2004 introduced the food communities to the world, and it was also the moment in which the communities themselves became aware of their own potential. Terra Madre 2006 revolved around the key concept of the relationship between the agricultural world and the world of academia, called in to help find effective solutions for the great problems of our time. The 2008 event focused on young people and witnessed the establishement of the Youth Food Movement: sign of the importance of the next generations for the future of agriculture.
Source: Press Office Salone del Gusto – Terra Madre