Slow Food

Terra Madre (Earth Mother) is an event run by Slow Food. An international organisation devoted to promoting good, clean and fair food. Terra Madre brings together producers, chefs, students, and academics from around the world to discuss these issues. It aims to provide a counter-point to the Fast Food culture.
Overall the event was amazing. There were representatives (7000 in total) from 153 different countries (there were only a handful that weren't here) and the event was run UN style with everybody wearing headsets and speakers being translated into 8 different languages. It was held in a huge venue and there were many representatives that had set up stalls in the central room to sell products from their country and many people were wearing traditional costume. We wondered what we as Australians should be wearing... Perhaps Drizabone coats and hats?
In attending workshops we quickly realised that all the challenges we face in Australia are mirrored in every part of the world. There may be individual nuances, but it was a real eye opener to see how much similarity there was. A sense of global solidarity grew in me. Similarly it was interesting to hear that there wasn't too much new under the sun and that all around the world we are working on similar solutions. I guess the main difference being that in Australia we have easy access to information and so these ideas are readily available to us. Perhaps people from other countries may have been hearing of the solutions/interventions being tried out in various countries for the first time.
For many of us the workshops were quite disappointing. The topics were very interesting, however in reality the speakers rarely stayed on topic and the moderators did nothing to address this, and in fact waded in by providing long winded personal opinions... there were many people moving between workshops to try and find one that they was going to be productive as a result.
Some cultural observations: ministers, officials, NGO leaders, almost anyone that would be considered 'important and expert' had very little of practical interest to say. Preferring to talk to fluff their feathers.
Italian speakers are incredibly waffly and never stick to the topic being discussed.
Producers/farmers from around the world talk about the practical side of things, although some are more to the point and articulate than others.
People from African countries quite understandably use the forum as a way to vocalise the very difficult situation many of them are in. Unfortunately as this was rarely on topic, their comments were rarely addressed by the next speaker and I was left feeling a bit sad and miffed with the event for not being able to address real issues and to utilise the collective expertise.
The most inspiring talk and workshop i attended was by the US youth. Youth is a new category at Terra Madre this year and is aimed at including the next generation into the conversation. At the opening ceremony, Sam a 14 year old, told us of how he and his mates established a great school food garden that is incorporated into the curriculum and the canteen and is now being asked to help in setting them up far afield. later on a workshop that covered practical ways in addressing the difficulty for new farmers to access land and to get internships on farms was very interesting and practical. Great counterpoint to the waffly older 'important and knowledgable' speakers previously mentioned!
The best thing about the event however was the opportunity to network with other people and make personal connections. In particular for me i will get in touch with the young americans that are doing some great things in the States.
There are projects all over the place there that connect people together in innovative ways and act against the things we dislike about the current depersonalised, commodified culture.
Australia looks set to really mushroom on similar projects, so it's great to see how they have done it before so the wheel isn't being reinvented. I think a trip to the States is the next step. hee hee.
Presidia
The event was incredibly colourful with many people connecting with many others. In particular Slow Food helps artisanal producers maintain their traditional products. in one hall was about 200 tradtional producers with the most amazing foods. And of course we got to sample many of the delights. You'll have to come to experience it, but i'll just leave you with a high light which was a sausage made from a pig that is covered by curly wool and really looks like a sheep-pigù1
Salone del Gusto
This was even bigger and was open to the public. Imagine an olympic sized hall with literally one thousand stalls selling and displaying their produce from all over the world, but particularly Italy. You can imagine the popular stalls with people hovering around the ones giving out samples. We felt like pigeons picking up morsels here and there.