Last weekend I spent tasting, listening and wondering at the
Salone del Gusto / Terra Madre in the nearby city Turin. I was surprised by the numbers of visitors, the
variety of food and the patience of the market man and woman. But most of all
I’ve learned a lot by asking questions and listening to others.
The Salone del Gusto
– initiated by Slow Food – is a biannual event which attracts ten thousands of
visitors. It is a big showcase from mainly Italian producers. The fairground is
divided in the different Italian regions. Each region has its own specific
cheeses, salume, liquors and more. Since this salone is the opportunity to convince
consumers, retailers and cooks to buy the products the market men are more than
welcome to give you a try on their products.
When the salone is
mainly dedicated to the gustosi
(gourmets) Terra Madre is dedicated to the political, social and economical role of food. The Terra
Madre network is formed in 2004 and unites producers which preserve local,
seasonal, quality food, their local environment and traditional knowledge.
During the salone small producers
from all over the world had the chance to showcase their produce to everyone
who wanted to know about it. For the visitors it was the opportunity to taste
unknown flavors and to chat to dedicated producers from countries one might not
have heard from before.
This year it was the first time that all the Terra Madre
lectures were open to everyone. With the combination of these two events Slow
Food showed to food lovers that food is not only about the end product but that
it involves so much more. Food is the energy for life, the basis of many
economies and it plays an amazingly important role in the appearance of the
landscapes we daily travel trough.
The topics of the lectures were as wide as the products made
by the members of the network. I’ve been to lectures on waste,
heard about the quality of our daily diet and was taught about the problem of
land grabbing It was an amazing weekend full of food, gathering of knowledge and getting to
know new (young) people.
Slow Food did a good attempt to make the food lovers aware
of all the other elements they are touching when working with, selling or
eating food. For the next edition they should continue this effort and
hopefully they are able to get the regular visitors out of the streets of the salone into the auditoria, make them
listen to what else they can do with food than the things they normally do.
But we cannot wait for two more years. So start to be
critical in what, where and why and when you buy your food now. It’s time to
make a change!
Find Food in the Streets on facebook for regular updates
