On December 10, Slow Food and Terra Madre network members around the world came together (virtually and in person) to celebrate Terra Madre Day, seeing events such as gastronomic festivals, themed dinners, farmers’ markets, farm visits, conferences and degustation in schools taking place around the world to mark Terre Madre Day 2012.
Producers, food communities, cooks, young people, academics, consumers or simply those who were curious people met in every corner of the globe to celebrate local food and those who work to protect and promote it. These annual initiatives, organised since 2009, are not reserved to members. In fact, they represent a very good opportunity for anyone to join one of the largest collective events in the world, which currently counts 884 events and about 162 thousand participants. In 2011 there were over 200 thousand participants coming from 125 different countries.
To give some Italian examples, at Hone, in the Valle d’Aosta region, on Friday, 7 the local Slow food presidium organized the Dinner of the “Micooula”, a tasty rye bread enriched with chestnuts, walnuts, dried figs, raisins and, sometimes, even chocolate chips. A competition based on breads and pastries was held on Sunday 9 by the Slow Food presidium of Bracciano (Rome). Participants presented their homemade bread to a jury, made up of agronomists, chefs, millers and bakers. The winners were awarded with a supply of local flour and extra-virgin olive oil.
Even elsewhere in the world, Slow Food local groups were enabled: in the al-Fari’ah refugee camp, near Nablus (Palestine), there were workshops and conferences organized in collaboration with the Youth Development Association and a local girls’ school to enjoy and recover traditional dishes. In Toronto (Canada), Slow Food members launched a culinary challenge to members of their communities consisting in preparing meals using only raw materials and avoiding all industrial products.
For a list of events related to Terra Madre Day 2012 visit: http://www.slowfood.it/terramadreday/pagine/eng/mappa.lasso
