September 2008

In this issue:

	Editorial by Roberto Burdese Memory Special    Recapturing memory    Children collect the elderly’s stories in Transylvania    Brain food: memories of taste    Terra Madre fundraising ideas in Perth Local food in N’ganon School Canteens A project created in Ivory Coast by the Chigata Convivium Raw milk rules Summer school and National Slow Food Day in France Wedding gift A young couple begins married life with a generous gesture Brussels sprouts new fair A weekend packed with eco-gastronomic pleasures in the Belgian capital The Future of Food Vandana Shiva’s call to rethink the paradigm of food in the lead up to this international conference Spanish Tomatada Another way to celebrate the tomato Sandra: blogger, cook and red rice of Madagascar A keen Slow Food cook publishes recipes using Presidium products Youth Food Nation I giovani a Slow Food Nation Guess what food it is... German children in a blindfold tasting contest Somerset School Garden A UK convivium tells its story Slow Fisch A German event dedicated to North Sea fish Hungarian flavor A meeting of Hungarian convivia

MEMORY SPECIAL

Recapturing memory A highly-active member with a passion for Romania

Jim Turnbull, a Slow Food member from Oxfordshire (UK), has worked in Romania for several years. He has come to see this country as an extraordinary repository of biodiversity, customs and little-known traditional knowledge, whose great potential he would like to help develop together with Slow Food. In 2005, he initiated the first Romanian convivium and established the first Presidium - Saxon Village Preserves. He is also cofounder of the first farmers’ market in Bucharest’s, which is about to become an Earth Market, and is working on a second farmers’ market due to open this autumn in Brasov.
Jim has recently been working with the ADEPT Foundation (which he helped to create) and the Slow Food Tarnava Mare Convivium to bring the international Four Generations Project to the village. The project is the brainchild of Sveva Gallmann in Kenya, who developed it because, “in Africa, older generations of tribal herbalists are not passing their knowledge on to younger generations—in school, children learn to believe the old ways of understanding the world have no relevance in modern life. The elders, who cannot read or write, are no longer seen as teachers - even though their knowledge comes from thousands of years of observing nature and coexisting harmoniously with it”.
The project collects stories of people, the countryside and culture, and passes them on before they are lost forever, using a variety of interactive teaching techniques, including intergenerational question and answer sessions, performance and role-play, storytelling, singing and nature walks.
The project has also been highly successful in Romania, helping to reconnect children with their cultural heritage. Anca Calugar of the ADEPT Foundation has played a key role: “This project is dedicated to people and their stories. They have a lot to tell! About their life experience, about the real, simple values that are more and more difficult to reach because of the way of life today....this is why it is very important to record their “knowledge”, to encourage them to share that and also, to be able to find out more about us and then transmit this to the next generations, to make them feel proud of who they are and where they come from because that is making us special. It is about our identity”. The project concluded with a performance in which the children enacted their newly gained knowledge on stage.

For more information about the Four Generations Project:

The Adept Foundation:
http://www.fundatia-adept.org/

Slow Food Saxon Village Preserves Presidium:

For more information about the Four Generations Project:
http://www.gallmannkenya.org/
Article in the National Geographic


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Brainfood: memories of taste Terra Madre fundraising ideas from Perth convivium

By collaborating with the Mundaring Truffle Festival, held at Darling Range east of Perth during the first weekend of August, Slow Food Perth Convivium had the opportunity to communicate the association’s philosophy to a large audience, awakening many memories about food and raising funds for local Terra Madre delegates travel costs. A Terra Madre lunch was held on the Saturday, with volunteers serving a meal using ingredients and products from local food communities to around 120 guests who learnt about the importance of small-scale production and the Terra Madre network in a convivial atmosphere.
The following day, the marquee was transformed to host a Slow Food information stand, market, a bar, taste education activities for children and the “brainfood tunnel”. This exhibition was hung along a tunnel of sixty meters of black fabric: 40 food memories oozing the flavors, textures and aromas of our past, expressed through images and text, such as Trudy Parker’s recollection of “playing in the sawdust layer on the floor of Trickeys Butcher in Hay Street near Princess Margaret Hospital while Mum bought the meat”.
The enjoyable and intense weekend successfully raised funds to assist Australian delegates to attend Terra Madre 2008.

To read more of these recollections:
http://slowfoodperth.org.au/category/brainfood/
Contact:
info@slowfoodperth.org.au

Local food in N’ganon School Canteens A project created in Ivory Coast by the Chigata Convivium

In the village of N’ganon, 70 Km from Korhogo in northern Ivory Coast, an educational project is underway to encourage local consumption, promoted and developed by the Slow Food Chigata Convivium . The project involves all the inhabitants of the village - from the village chief to all the men, women and children - a familiar situation for those who know Africa. But the main focus is the N’ganon school.
Since the project started three months ago, the seven hectares provided by the village chief have been ploughed and cultivated with the most suitable cereal and vegetable varieties for the terrain. The first crops, including rice, peanuts and beans, will be harvested during September and October. The village women grow the raw materials, supplying the school canteen and their families as well as selling the remaining produce on the market to support the project.
As of this month, students at the N’ganon school will enjoy traditional, healthy Ivory Coast dishes twice a day, enabling them to appreciate the great value of food products grown at home and the importance of their own food culture.
The project Consommons Ivoirien, Equilibre et Sain dans nos Cantines Scolaires is coordinated and supported by the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, through funding from the Gund Foundation.

To contact the Chigata convivium:
chigatafsdd@yahoo.fr

Raw milk rules Summer school and National Slow Food Day in France

Some important events involving cheese and Slow Food France are being held in September.
First on the agenda is the third edition of Université d'été, open to all members and organized with the help of the Volca’niac Convivium . A range of round table discussions, taste workshops, visits to producers and convivial meals were held over September 5, 6 and 7 in Clermont-Ferrand, at the centre of the Auvergne region.
As the region is famous for its cheese products, this edition of the summer school was dedicated to cheese, and particularly to discussion of raw milk. This issues was addressed from various perspectives, with contributions from technical experts, tasters and the experiences of some outstanding producers.
Frances’s second National Slow Food day, to be held on September 27, will this year focus on raw milk. Convivia have been invited to organize local events around this theme, aiming to demonstrate the role of raw milk in a healthy diet. For example, the Languedoc Convivium will run a stand to promote and sell produce from the Pélardon Sec Presidium at a Montpellier farmers’ market.

Contact:
lucia@slowfood.fr

Wedding Gift A young couple begins married life with a generous gesture

When long-standing Italian Slow Food members Enrico and Marina got married this July, they asked their friends not to give wedding gifts and invited them to instead, “support communities of women around the world who are striving everyday to provide for their families, often facing much hardship, as well as their wider communities”, and to assist them to attend Terra Madre.
The couple explained: “Slow Food has created a network of solidarity involving members, public institutions, slow cities, restaurateurs and the public. Their support makes it possible to organize Terra Madre and it would be a wonderful gift for us if you join this cause.”
The communities being supported through this unique request are: Berber women’s cooperative (Morocco) which produces Argan oil, a cooperative of Imraguen women (Mauritania) producing mullet bottarga and a community of Palestinian women (Jericho), producing traditional foods (couscous, date and honey pastries).
The entire Slow Food movement expresses its thanks to Enrico and Marina.


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Brussels sprouts new fair A weekend packed with eco-gastronomic pleasures in the Belgian capital

The inaugural edition of Taste Brussels is being held over September 18-21, with the aim to portray a new image of Brussels: an eco-gastronomic city rich with of gastronomic treasures. The local Karikol Convivium collaborated with cooks, food and wine producers, local shops, and professional and enthusiastic amateur growers, to plan the event, encouraging them to participate and communicate their experience, passion and knowledge.
Visitors have the opportunity to tour breweries and bakeries, taste natural wines, local cheeses and artisan ice cream, visit Belgium chocolate artisans, dine in restaurants offering special menus, explore organic and botanical gardens (such as the Pomona Gardens )and join a wild-plant foraging and information walk.
The Bruxelles-Champêtre event, is being held on the same weekend. It features the Sustainable Food Village that will host round table discussions and exhibitions and a producers’ market organized by Slow Food where visitors can buy lunch and join a large group picnic in Place des Palais.
Slow Food Karikol, worked with the Information Centre for a Positive Economy (POSECO), the Research Center for Consumer Associations (CRIOC) and the Brussels Network for Sustainable Food (RABAD) to organize this event.

For more information:
http://www.gouterbruxelles.be/spip.php?rubrique48

Contact:
http://www.karikol.be/


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The Future of Food Vandana Shiva’s call to rethink the paradigm of food in the lead up to this international conference

“Climate Chaos and the food crisis compel us to revisit the dominant paradigm of food and agriculture. Industrial, globalized agriculture has contributed to climate change as well as to the current food crisis and food insecurity. More than 40 countries have experienced food riots. Rising oil prices and food prices are being defined as a security issue. However, at the high level UN Food and Agriculture Organization meeting in June 2008 on the food crisis and climate change, the World Bank and global corporations promoted the disease as the solution. They called for higher levels of chemical fertilizer use even though the cost of fossil fuel based fertilizers has tripled with the rise in oil prices and synthetic fertilizers are a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions leading to climate change
We feel it is important and urgent to address these interlinked issues of climate, food and GMO’s and defend the rights of all people to safe healthy and nutritious food and the rights of farmers to secure and sustainable livelihoods, and to seed sovereignty and seed freedom.
Thus, Navdanya together with the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology and Diverse Women for Diversity would like to invite you to the major international conference The Future of Food: Climate Change, GMO’s and Food Security, being held in New Delhi over October 1 - 2, 2008 in New Delhi.”

Contact:
navdanya@gmail.com


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Spanish Tomatada Another way to celebrate the tomato

For three consecutive weekends the Slow Food Valencia Convivium is holding the Tomatada, another way to celebrate the tomato, event - presenting traditional tomato varieties through agriculture, gastronomy, biodiversity and culture to make the many traditional varieties better known and encourage their consumption.
“Tomatoes are the most widespread vegetable in the world, an important part of our diets. But do we know all their shapes and sizes, colors, flavors and uses? The commercial varieties we usually eat have replaced many other local varieties. There are large, small and tiny tomatoes; they can be red, orange, yellow, pink, or dark violet; acid, sweet or sharp; round, pear shaped or flat. They form part of our cultural heritage and should be defended”, stated the convivium.

The event will be held at Castielfabib on September 12-14, 19-21 and 26-28.


For more information, contact:
convivium@valencia.slowfood.es


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Cooking, blogging and red rice of madagascar A keen Slow Food cook publishes recipes using Presidium products

Sandra, cook and member of the Slow Food Turin, is enthusiastic about the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre. She never misses convivium activities promoting Terra Madre issues and helping to fundraise for the event and decided to dedicate her time to developing recipes that use Presidia products. These recipes are published on her blog, “A Touch of Ginger” and include the story of the presidia.
For instance, alongside the recipe of her second creation, “Andasibe red rice, zucchini cream and mullet bottarga”, she writes: “This dark red rice (Oryza sativa), or Vary Mena in the local dialect, is a native variety and very probably a cross between local wild red varieties and white Japonica varieties introduced by Indonesians around the year 1000. With a very high vitamin content and pleasant nutty flavor, it is the most popular variety on the local market (rice accounts for nearly 70% of Malagasy people’s daily calorie needs) and is included in three meals a day.
Unfortunately the cultivation of Vary Mena is diminishing due to its poor yields and low market prices. The Presidium has taken action by buying equipment for rice threshing, husking and packaging. This will enable Malagasy small farmers to improve the quality of the final product and finally compete with the white rice imported from Pakistan.”

For more information:
the recipe on the blog
The Red Rice of Andasibe Presidium

Contatto:
Sandra Salerno


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Youth Food Nation

San Francisco has always been a popular destination for young people, but never more so than during the last weekend of August, when Slow Food Nation came to town. The first edition of the event, organized by Slow Food USA, saw extensive participation by students and alumni of the University of Gastronomic Sciences, members and organizers of the Youth Food Movement, and leaders from Slow Food on Campus convivia across the country. Coordinating workshops and recruiting new members, planning picnics and collective “Eat-In” events, or cooking wild boar for a hundred in an urban warehouse, the youth presence was everywhere. The spirit even took to the street: more than a few impromptu aperitivi popped up, with young SFN attendees recognizing each other from the day’s events and stopping together for a drink or a bite. Conviviality, California-style.


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Guess what food it is... German children in a blindfold tasting contest

With your eyes blindfolded and using only touch, smell and taste, recognizing a food becomes much more difficult. Parents, teachers and members led more than 80 children between 3 and 15 years-old through such a challenge, in a workshop organized by Slow Food Aachen during a week dedicated to food and taste education at the Würselen Broichweiden elementary school.
Curious and without inhibitions, the children felt and tasted pieces of pear and apple, ginger, banana and other foods. They let their imagination run freely as they described what they were holding or eating: “ it tastes old” (dried apricots), “like fur” (fibers of ginger), “I know what it is, my guinea pig always eats it” (kohlrabi).
With so many imaginative answers, it was impossible to declare a winner at the end of the competition, with the enjoyment and learning they each experienced, making each of them a winner.

More information here on the german site


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Somerset School Gardens A UK Convivium tells its story

It wasn't all plain sailing, but the Slow Food Somerset Convivium has now set up a second UK School Garden at Oldfield Park Primary School.
Unexpectedly, identifying an interesting school presented an initial stumbling block for the group. “It was at this stage that we were stalled for a very long time,” says convivium leader Suzanne Wynn. Finally, a school was found which wanted to create a garden for after-school activities, but this was not the end of our difficulties: no water was available, the soil was very infertile and most important of all, harvesting had to occur by the end of the school year.
All the problems fortunately disappeared when the first vegetables appeared; the first harvest was an exciting moment for all those who had been involved. “I felt it was vital to get the children tasting the product of their labors and so cooked up some potatoes for them to dress in different ways using their own herbs. (...) I would encourage every convivium that has thought of establishing a School Garden to persevere. It will be worth it”.

Contact:
Suzanne Wynn


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Slow Fisch A German event dedicated to North Sea fish

Following the successful past editions of Slow Fish, the international sustainable fish event held in Genoa, many convivia in northern Germany wondered “Why not host something similar with a focus on North Sea fisheries?”
So from November 7 - 9 the first edition of Slow Fisch will be held at the Bremen Exhibition Center. The event is being organized by the Exhibition Center and Slow Food Deutschland. Many exhibitors from the fishing sector have already booked a stand and there will also be other products representing the best food traditions of the area, such as lamb, heritage potato varieties and sausages.
The event will feature presentations, conferences and of course Taste Workshops. Visitors can have fun cleaning shrimps and finding out about the Granat, small red shrimps found in the North Sea which are only caught in the morning. Special guests from Genoa will also attend.

For more details:
www.slow-fisch.de


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Hungarian flavor A meeting of Hungarian convivia

All the Hungarian convivia have arranged to meet on September 20 near Nyiregyhaza, 200 km east of Budapest. The museum is organizing “Taste of Hungary” for the weekend, with many cooks preparing food in the farmhouses and open areas. This is the fourth national Slow Food meeting to be held in Hungary, and many of the convivia have developed from Terra Madre communities. The gathering will be held in an old barn, along with exhibitions, presentations, tasting sessions and food demonstrations.
The following week, Hungarian Slow Food representatives will visit the producers’ market in Turda, organized by the local convivium as part of a project to promote exchanges.

Contact:
Erdos Zoltán


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