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The newsletter for all members of the Terra Madre
network, defenders of sustainable
agriculture, fishing and breeding
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Projects
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Learning from our neighbors |
International cooperation is one of the foundations of
Slow Food philosophy. Upholding this principle, Uganda
recently hosted a group of 25 farmers from Kenya to share
skills and knowledge. During the week-long visit, the
Kenyans learned about a different way of farming and realized
they were underutilizing their natural resources.
The main message conveyed by the host community was the
need to create a balance between the local interests of
a country and international interests: growing products
for export only provides benefits if you continue to satisfy
the needs of the domestic market at the same time. Cooperating
and diversifying agricultural production enables you to
sell products on foreign markets but it also allows you
to defend and protect the domestic market and traditional
agricultural methods.
Another useful lesson concerned energy resources. In Uganda,
Mrs. Loyumbya supplies her house with energy from the
dung produced by her cattle, showing that it is possible
to use biogas instead of wood fuel. The initial costs
involved in using biogas are certainly prohibitive for
an individual, but are acceptable if the community addresses
the issue cooperatively.
The host community showed it had made significant progress
in their fields and orchards: underutilized land had been
made productive, swampy fields had been converted into
nurseries and waste weeds were used as an excellent poultry
feed.
During their visit the Kenyans also learned from Haji
Zephunya that the production of passion fruit, a widespread
crop in Kenya, could be improved by using organic methods
that increase yields and reduce costs.
This meeting was an opportunity for shared experience
and discussion, highlighting the benefits of international
cooperation. The Kenyan farmers returned home confident
and inspired by their experience. They were particularly
keen to apply the lessons learned, illustrating the observation
that "only through sharing can you increase the efficiency
of your work, at the same time guaranteeing product quality
and traceability".
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Trans-Atlantic friendship |
"My
name is Benjamin Fahrer and together with my wife Gabriel,
I attended the last edition of Terra Madre in Turin
as a delegate. It was an amazing experience and enabled
us to meet many people sharing our passion for producing
quality food.
One of our most rewarding connections was with Alfredo
Fasola, an Umbrian farmer with whom we established
a valuable relationship. This led me to organize For
the Love of Food ~ Our Culture of Connection. From Umbria
to California, an exchange between Umbrian and
Californian farmers, for the lovers of good food.
A delegation of 12 Umbrian farmers came to California
from January 21 to February 1, 2008. They attended the
Eco-Farm Conference and we then accompanied them on
a tour visiting farmers and celebrating the pleasures
of the table.
In exchange, our Umbrian friends are coordinating with
their regional government and farmer networks to host
a delegation of Californian farmers and chefs immediately
following Terra Madre 2008, in a visit to the foremost
Italian region for organic agriculture".
For more information on the project, contact:
Benjamin Fahrer
pcdesigns@earthlink.net
or visit the website:
www.wiseearth.org
Focus on...
Gift economy
A gift economy refers to an economic system where goods
and services are supplied without any explicit agreement
regarding the immediate future or an expectation of
a quid pro quo. It is not rare to find gift-based
economies within cultures or subcultures which offer
social or non-material rewards in exchange for generosity
(such as karma, honor, loyalty or other forms of gratitude).
In some cases the gift may function to redistribute
goods within a community, becoming an expression of
reciprocal altruism.
Though there is no connection between the gift and economic
recompense, this does not necessarily mean it is free
of any expectations. The three obligations implicitly
linked to the concept of a gift (giving, receiving and
giving something in return) produce a social bond, consolidate
the sense of belonging and confer integrity to the group.
Food is also shared
There are many examples of social groups which are partially
based on giving and sharing:
The American ethnologist Polly Wiessner, Professor in
the Department of Anthropology at the University of
Utah and author of many books and articles, has examined
these issues in detail. She studied the complex network
of exchange that developed between members of some populations
and then compared five different peoples for whom sharing
is a fundamental practice: the San of the Kalahari (straddling
South Africa, Namibia and Botswana), the Yanomami of
Amazonia, the inhabitants of the Trobriand Islands,
the Eipo and the Yalenang of New Guinea.
In all these cases it was found that sharing, particularly
the sharing of food, was an added way of creating and
consolidating social bonds.
Sharing meat, for example, is very important in hunter-gatherer
societies: it ensures there is a wide distribution of
protein among all the members of the group, particularly
during times of scarcity. This is well illustrated in
the case of the Yanomami, where a hunter who does not
share his prey with the other members of the group loses
his status as a hunter.
Co-operation and sharing, in varied forms, are also
widespread in many of our modern societies. Voluntary
service, and also the actions of solidarity that occur
within family groups, are a basic component of our economies
and many societies would collapse if deprived of these
activities.
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Slow Food
key words |
Food communities
Food communities are both
a new and an old concept proposed by Slow Food for the
first time at Terra Madre 2004. A food community is
a group of people operating in the agrifood sector who
produce, transform and distribute food, and are distinguished
by the quality and sustainability of their products.
Each food community must have strong historical, social,
economic and cultural links to their local area.
Food communities, the crucial components of the Terra
Madre network, are of two types:
- based on a local area, when they
produce several products, which may be very different
but are all connected to a defined geographical area
or indigenous ethnic group;
- based on a product, where the community
is composed of all the farmers, transformers and distributors
involved in their different capacities to produce the
same product in a specific area
Voices from
Terra Madre
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I will never forget the experience of Terra
Madre 2006 in Turin. I met so many people
from all over the world and now feel part
of a vast network of men and women similar
to me who showed interest in what I'm doing. |
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Jonette Chapman
Delegate from New Zealand
jonette@ihug.co.nz
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Food Traditions
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Awarma – Meat preserved following Lebanese tradition |
Some food traditions are not only about food, but are
about men and women combining their efforts and working
towards a common goal.
Up until about the 1960s, in villages all around Lebanon,
a fat-tail sheep was force-fed for months before the cold
winter following an ancient tradition shared by all the
population irrespective of ethnicity or religion.
The sheep's main food was made of vine and mulberry leaves.
Usually the woman of the house took care of this task.
She would feed the sheep five times a day, every day.
She would nurture it, massage it, bath it, and even sing
to it. The sheep became totally dependent on the women,
and thus became domesticated. The sheep would become the
talk of women among themselves. It would almost take on
a child-like existence. It would be fed enough for him
to become three times his original size with a huge tail
full of fat called liyee.
When the weather became cooler, around mid-September,
the sheep was slaughtered. Psychologically, this had an
affect on the woman who had nurtured him for so many months.
Her only consolation was that the by-product of the sheep
would ultimately feed her family for a whole year and
help them cope with the harsh winter.
The day of the slaughter was a big event in the village.
Tables were set for a feast with a lavish mezze,
including many different recipes containing raw meat.
Every part of the sheep was used for consumption and awarma
was made for preservation. The traditional recipe calls
for 1/3 meat and 2/3 fat. The fat is melted then the meat
is added and cooked slowly over a low heat until the meat
becomes tender. In the past, the finished product was
poured into large earthenware jars. After cooling it was
covered with solid earth and a cloth to keep the meat
from spoiling. These jars were stored in a cool, dry place.
Today, awarma is still prepared, not so much for meat
preservation, but for the exquisite taste that the recipe
provides. It is very much appreciated in soups, in pies,
and is typically fried with eggs in the traditional fakr,
a circular pottery vessel.
Barbara Massaad
barbaram@cyberia.net.lb
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Mezze,
of Lebanese origin but now common throughout
the Middle East, consists of 40 small
dishes based on fish, meat and vegetables.
It is served as an antipasto and usually
accompanied by arak, a traditional alcoholic
beverage based on anise which is diluted
with water and ice.
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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
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Dear Friends
The main distinguishing
feature of any network is the interconnection
between its participants. This was also a major
consideration when we constructed the Terra Madre
network: we wanted the communities to feel interconnected,
able to stay in continuous contact with each other
and exchange information. This frequency of interaction
must become a reality, and while the virtual world
is certainly of strategic and functional help
in creating a network, it isn't enough.
"Creating a network" doesn't just mean this newsletter
or e-mails which communities send each other to
exchange advice or information. These are essential
tools, but something else is needed, something
that is found during Terra Madre meetings and
can also emerge at other times and places. Having
face-to-face contact and visiting the actual places
where people work are the best ways of bringing
a human element to the network, giving it real
substance and making exchanges more beneficial.
Visits, trips and specific practical activities
implemented as a result of Terra Madre are some
of the most satisfying outcomes, because they
create and consolidate friendships. They support
our ideals of a world where good, clean and fair
food prevails and where the economy is at the
service of human beings and not vice versa.
There are beginning to be many interesting examples
of joint projects, specific initiatives and solutions
to long-lasting problems being found through the
experiences of other communities: this newsletter
describes some significant ones. The most striking
thing is the simple fact that these people meet
each other, spend some time together and can physically
shake each other by the hand.
In past centuries, peasant communities ensured
that plant varieties developed, improved and adapted
to the local area through exchange—giving and
receiving seeds from other villages, thereby boosting
the creative force of diversity. In a similar
way, a new seed is now beginning to feed global
diversity: the seed of humanity nurtured by the
participants of Terra Madre. It is an "emotional
intelligence" which is made explicit and powerful
through our personal meetings. That is the true
essence of our network.
Carlo Petrini
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Join
a great international community that defends sustainable
agriculture, fishing and breeding.
Celebrate the pleasure that the finest foods in
the world offer us in all their variety
servicecentre
@slowfood.com |
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Your Questions Answered
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Dear
Friends of Terra Madre, In the wake of the wonderful
things being done
on the politics of food around the world, I'm
trying to develop a curriculum
which includes courses on sociology and the politics
of food. This is an
initial step towards hopefully creating a university
department focusing
on various issues regarding food (sustainability,
heritage, history and
politics, methods and traditions and so forth).
If anyone has already started such an endeavor
and is willing to share,
I would very much appreciate syllabi or ideas
on related topics.
Best Slow Wishes,
Nimrod
Luz
Lecturer in Cultural Geography and Politics at
Western Galilee College, Akko, Israel.
nimrodluz@hotmail.com
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To succeed in his project, Nimrod Luz
would like help from people in the Terra Madre network. Please
don't hesitate to get in touch if you can provide any advice,
suggestions or information that might be useful for Nimrod.
His request has already been forwarded by email to academics
in the network. Nimrod has given an example of some of the
first suggestions received:
"It is with great pleasure that I share with you some of the
wonderful responses I have received so far. First and foremost
it was great to learn that there are so many people out there
who are thinking about how to make a change and strive together
for the same goals.
I received responses from colleagues in Spain, Brazil, Germany,
UK and the USA. Dr. Ursula Hudson from the German Academy
for Culinary Studies told me about their three-year program
in Food Management and Culinary Studies. At the University
of New Hampshire, they are finalizing a double major in Eco-Gastronomy
(thank you for that Prof. Celentano). Michael Pollan, Professor
of Journalism at Berkeley University, California, referred
me to his wonderful
site which, in addition to all his writing (in itself
a wonderful source of ideas for my project), also has syllabi
on related courses".
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Did
You Know that?
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Food Down The Road |
Increasing numbers of people around the world are becoming aware
of the importance of local produce. Those involved in promoting
local food stress its undeniable advantages: local food is more
suitable for supplying seasonal products, it is more controllable
(with regard to its origin, characteristics and methods of production),
and its use reduces the number of food miles.
Food down the road, based in Kingston (Ontario, Canada), is
an excellent example. It is a broadly-based, diversified movement
formed in 2006 through the efforts of the National Farmers'
Union (NFU) and other local organizations involved in promoting
sustainable farming and food.
The creation of the Food down the road network has seen significant
events being organized and an establishment of an Internet site.
These initiatives aim to create a strong local food system (considered
to be food grown within 100 km). The site www.fooddowntheroad.ca
contains some very useful resources. These include: The ABCs
of Local Food, Take Action: an action guide helping
create a local sustainable food system, Seasonal Food Chart:
a diagram of seasonal foods to find out what you can eat at
various times of the year and the Local Food Locator:
a clever map displaying the location of producers in a particular
area, with information about what they produce and how to contact
them.
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