The producers of Missira, Mali stand proud

Farmers’ markets are places where consumers and small-scale food producers, who often have difficulty in accessing conventional commercial channels, can meet, buy and sell. The products for sale are closely connected to the local area (being typical local products and grown in the geographical area near to the market) and follow the rhythm of the seasons.

In Mali the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, thanks to financial support from the Slow Food convivium of Brescia (a city in northern Italy), has been assisting and supporting the Yeelen Association since 2006 to set up a producers’ market in the Missira district of Bamako, capital of the country. The initiative took shape due to the efforts of Aminata Traorè, former Minister of Culture in Mali and founder of the African Social Forum, who proposed rehabilitating this ancient market and was then directly involved in the project.

The producers are proud of the Missira market in its present form since they are finally sheltered from the sun and the wind. The market offers the public of Missira, Bamako and other cities a healthier environment where products are properly managed, they are protected from insects, bad weather and other negative effects. The most valuable outcome of the market’s rehabilitation, and most striking for visitors, is the absence of mud and stagnant water and a significant reduction in the numbers of flies and mosquitoes.

The small market of Missira, which has now been cleaned up, made more attractive and an integrated part of a pleasanter urban setting, is now a focal point for trade, information, education and the distribution of healthy and natural products, as well as being a showcase for low-cost technologies. The work has been carried out using local materials and methods, thus encouraging local people who now have confidence in the possibility of improving their living environment through relatively small financial investment.

To contact the Yeelen Association, write to:
famapemissira@yahoo.fr

Town and country in the USA: coming back

John Peterson is a farmer from the American Midwest who has personally experienced the passions, hopes and bitter disappointments that have marked recent episodes in US social history. Raised in a traditional farming family among the fields and animals, he enthusiastically participated in the hippy movement when young and then dedicated himself to his parents’ farm, following the prescriptions of the agricultural policies of the 1970s: expansion and intensive production methods. As happened to so many of his fellow Americans, this approach caused him to incur ever-increasing debts and by the beginning of the 1980s he had lost a large part of his land.

Only in 1992 did John find the strength to return to the land, but this time it was with very different intentions. Very patiently he began to grow many different varieties of vegetables using organic and then biodynamic methods. A particularly significant feature was that his agricultural activity was shared with the whole community. John managed to involve people who usually just bought vegetables in looking after and harvesting them: people who lived in the cities.

The number of families who came to “Angelic Farms” from Chicago and elsewhere to help John grow what they would then put on their plates—accompanied by children who had grown up in an urban environment and gradually gained familiarity with market gardening—continued to grow. Eventually the farm developed into a true CSA (Community Supported Agriculture venture), where people living in the city revived a relationship with the countryside and those working there, which had been lost in recent decades.

To encourage other small farmers forced to tackle similar difficulties, John has presented his story in a documentary movie, The Real Dirt on Farmer John, shot by his friend Taggart Siegel in 2005.

For more information:
Website of John Peterson’s farm: www.angelicorganics.com
E-mail: csa@angelicorganics.com
Website of the movie, The Real Dirt on Farmer John: www.farmerjohnmovie.com

Community Supported Agriculture: is a relatively new economic model for agriculture – developed in the U.S. in late 1980s – in which consumers directly invest in a farm, becoming a sort of “farm shareholder”, since they share the risks and benefits of food production. CSA members pay for the costs of agricultural products in advance and in exchange receive a regular supply of seasonal fruit and vegetables, grown using organic methods, and/or high quality meat. In some cases members are involved in farming activities. By means of direct sale and payment in advance, farmers receive fairer remuneration, they do not have to bear the costs of marketing and dependency on large-scale retailers and are no longer alone in the face of adverse events which can destroy the work of an entire year, such as plant or animal diseases, insect infestations or bad weather conditions. Though they display differences, all the forms of CSA always have a common shared commitment to building a fairer system of agriculture focused on the local area, which allows producers to concentrate on cultivating the land or raising livestock and maintaining small, thriving farms.

Slow Food key words

Contrary to common belief, "haute cuisine" is not elitist or excluding, on the contrary. Haute cuisine should be part of Terra Madre, communicating in its own way how wonderful this project is, and helping small producers, as it has always done. It might do it just for selfish reasons to always have top-class products. In Europe, restaurants serving haute cuisine often have a special relationship with small local producers. My dream is for the same thing to happen in all the countries of Terra Madre           Ferran Adriá closing ceremony of Terra Madre 2006

A question mark responds to children

"My name is Bineta and I am one of the 1000 cooks of Terra Madre. I come from Senegal and run a restaurant called "Le ?" (question mark) in Rue Amadou Assane Ndoye, Dakar. It is very simple and discreet, an exception in the chaos of the capital of my country, where the model for successful restaurants is international European-oriented cuisine. However in my "Le ?", I decided to do things differently. I only use ingredients bought directly from local producers and only serve traditional dishes, for example thiof (Epinephelus aeneus)—our tastiest fish—red millet couscous and couscous of fonio, a delicate flavored cereal, suitable for diabetics.

Our food culture is rich and varied, it is a great pity that nutritious and tasty foods are being forgotten. I am sorry that our children end up eating junk food the same as anywhere around the globe. For this reason I have brought students from Dakar elementary schools to my restaurant. Together with the cooks they get busy in the kitchen and learn about the different raw materials. We present our dinners like guided tastings, explaining to the children the characteristics of the products, their methods of preparation and traditions connected to the foods they are eating. We also use participatory games where the children put all their senses to the test.
'Eat local, eat Senegalese' is not a publicity slogan, at the Question Mark it's a reality. I hope that gradually it can also become a reality in the houses of my small cook-customers."

Bineta Diallo
E-mail: restaurantmdioh@yahoo.fr

Fonio: (Digitaria exilis) is the most important species in a group of wild and domestic Digitaria species which are harvested in the savanna of western Africa. In these regions fonio is particularly important because, as well as being nutritious, it tolerates semi-arid climates, can adapt to poor soils and is one of the fastest growing cereals in the world, ripening in 6-8 weeks. The grains are used in porridge and couscous, and also used to produce beer and bread. In the mythology of the Dogon people of Mali, the supreme creator, Amma, formed the universe by bursting a grain of fonio inside the “egg of the world”.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR TRADITIONS! Describe your community, your regional dishes and the occasions on which you eat them. We’ll post the best entries in this section: communication@slowfood.com