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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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Terra Madre Nederland |
The Netherland’s first Terra Madre meeting
was held over the weekend of May 17 and 18,
2008 at the ancient Abbey of Middelburg,
in the province of Zeeland. Farmers, fishers, market gardeners,
butchers, bakers, beekeepers, Dutch winemakers, brewers
and other producers came together for the two-day market
that was held under the chestnut trees in the beautiful
central square. A big tent was set up to accommodate the
restaurant where a group of chefs volunteered to work
with the ingredients that were presented in the Terra
Madre market.
The cloister, one of the oldest parts of the abbey, was
the venue for 21 workshops and two symposia on important
issues. The first discussion concerned the future of Taste
Education in the Netherlands, and the second symposium
examined legislation and regulations on hygiene, especially
in relation to small-scale production.
This event, organized with substantial support from the
Dutch Ministry of Agriculture and the provincial government
of Zeeland, was a great success and attracted a lot of
press coverage.
Even on the wet and cold Saturday many people visited
the market, chatting with the producers and buying their
products. Producers were interchanging ideas all the time
and we are certain that it was a great boost for the Dutch
Terra Madre network. The producers, stimulated by seeing
recognition for all their hard work, have already booked
for the next Terra Madre in The Netherlands, to be held
in the autumn of 2009. In the meantime we all hope to
meet the international community during Terra Madre 2008
in Turin.
Jan Wolf
President Slow Food Nederland
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Cultivating good sense |
Honoring and building on his parents’ experience,
Frank Verhoeven founded Boeren Verstand (Common Sense)
– a company giving advice in the area of sustainable
agriculture and providing input into decision processes
between government, scientific and farming communities.
The name refers to the famous common sense of traditional
farmers. This good sense and the farmers themselves are
the starting point for Frank’s work, which aims
to operate from the bottom up through research, promotion
and communication of their knowledge.
‘We went looking for innovative agricultural practices
in the Netherlands and are trying to make them more widely
known through publications and other means. For example,
the book Samen Werken (Working Together) presents the
results of farmers’ working groups —thematic
based groups who are studying, exchanging and striving
to enrich local knowledge’.
To promote regional production by small producers, Frank
has also created de Boeren Box, a package of various local
products according to the region where it is sold. So
far seven different boxes have been made up for seven
different Dutch regions and others will soon be available.
Each box also contains a list of local farms and suppliers’
brochures, presenting a network of local food producers
and thus encouraging supermarket customers (where the
boxes are sold) to become co-producers.
Frank had the chance to share his experiences and knowledge
with other small farmers at Terra Madre Nederland.
For further information:
Frank Verhoeven
frank@boerenverstand.org
Focus on...
Water: a vital resource
Covering two-thirds of our planet, water is an element
upon which all forms of life depend. Just 2.5% of this
is fresh water and only 1% is found in lakes, rivers or
reservoirs. Although it is a renewable resource, water
availability is a serious problem around the world. The
geographical distribution of water resources is quite
uneven and continually increasing demand may create problems
in providing adequate world supplies in the future. For
this reason, water is a strategic resource with a direct
effect on health and biodiversity.
The ‘water crisis’ spoken about today is largely
due to poor resource management rather than insufficient
stocks.
Agriculture uses about 70% of water resources for irrigation,
of which 15-35% is not sustainable. In some parts of the
world, irrigation is necessary to grow any crop and thus
to feed the population, while in other areas water is
used for crops that produce the most profit.
In every area of use (agriculture, industry, domestic
consumption) it is possible to reduce water wastage.
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How much water do you
consume? |
The University of Twente, in the Netherlands,
has created a novel online calculator for water www.waterfootprint.org
- able to calculate the impact of individuals and countries
on global water reserves. The site brings to attention
all the water we consume without realizing it. For instance,
you can discover that a single cup of coffee requires
140 liters of water: the water required for the cultivation
and processing of the coffee beans. A kilo of beef needs
16,000 liters of water: not just the water drunk by cattle
but in particular the water for growing, harvesting and
processing cereals and feeds.
And so on: an apple - 70 liters; a glass of beer - 75
liters; a slice of bread - 40 liters; one kilo of cheese
- 5000 liters; a kilo of chicken - 3900 liters.
At www.waterfootprint.org
you can calculate the average annual consumption per capita
for different countries. You can also use the Individual
Water Footprint Calculator to discover how much water
you use, taking into consideration your personal habits
and other lifestyle factors: where you live, your income,
diet, etc.
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Expo Zaragoza 2008:
water and sustainable development |
Expo
Zaragoza 2008 is presenting the largest event ever
organized on the topic of water and sustainability. Held
over June 14 – September 14, this 93-day-long Expo
will feature various water-related issues each week, which
scientists, experts, politicians, legislators, artists
and writers will consider and discuss from their different
perspectives. La tribuna del Agua, conceived as a centre
for learning, discussion and sharing ideas, is planned
around four main themes: water, a unique resource; water
for life; water and land; water, a means for people to
interact. The scale of this event is impressive: 32 000
participants from 102 countries and 2000 experts from
around the world will take part.
Slow Food will attend this important event. Thanks to
the efforts of the Slow Food Zaragoza convivium, the Terra
Madre project will be presented on the morning of July
4 and its guidelines for producing sustainable food will
be described, including the vital factor of water. This
meeting will conclude with an organic lunch, with those
invited including 250 Spanish mayors
For further information:
Jorge Hernandez
Leader of the Saragoza Convivium
zaragozaslowfood@telefonica.net
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Slow Food
key words |
Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre:
a new type of fair
Slow Food has set out to apply
a systematic vision to its events, head office, organizational
structures and Presidia, aiming to consistently adhere
to the principles underpinning the Slow Food manifesto
‘Good, Clean and Fair’.
The 2008 edition of the International
Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre is part of this ongoing
process and aims to achieve a fair with low environmental
impact, which reduces the use of non-renewable resources
and recovers ‘waste’ material.
The project aims to progressively reduce the environmental
impact of the International Salone del Gusto and Terra
Madre (as well as other events organized by Slow Food),
by promoting new sustainable consumption patterns and
managing outputs (waste) at the local level. Areas involved
include fair set-up, waste production, packaging, materials
for consuming food, the logistics of transporting goods,
CO2 emissions, mobility, energy and water resources.
Voices from
Terra Madre
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The quote ‘When an African dies a library
goes with her’ is so true in the case
of African food culture. Oral tradition and
knowledge is lost forever when a cultivator
or a cook dies, as does knowledge of the plants
and recipes they may have used. We need to
improve communications among food communities
if we are to counter this loss of food knowledge
in Africa. |
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Sayed Azam-Ali
Director of the Tropical Crops Research
Unit at the University of Nottingham, United
Kingdom.
Sayed.Azam-ali@nottingham.ac.uk
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Food Traditions
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Nettles
in the hen house,
eggs in the basket |
Gathering plants and aromatic herbs for culinary purposes,
spices, infusions or homeopathic remedies has always been
a common activity in the mountains.
The virtues of each particular herb and its benefits for
human health, have for many decades been a precious resource
recognized by people living in mountain areas and have
been passed down by oral tradition through proverbs and
sayings from generation to generation.
In the region of Haute Alpes in Provence, France, it is
not unusual to treat insomnia with nettle tea or to hear
expressions such as ‘ nettles in the hen house,
eggs in the basket’, referring to the fact that
feeding hens with nettle seeds is supposed to boost the
production of eggs.
Nettles feature in many traditional recipes. The plant’s
virtues include its high protein content and providing
seven times the amount of vitamins as oranges. It can
be dried and made into a powder for use as a condiment
in meat dishes; boiled to make herbal teas or fried in
a little oil to make an ideal condiment for frittatas,
soups and salads.
Already used as a medicinal plant by the ancient Greeks,
it has a wide range of properties, being antidiabetic,
astringent, depurative, diuretic, cardiotonic and antianemic.
Elderly people still use it to treat rheumatism due to
its effect of stimulating blood circulation. Organic agriculture
uses the plant as a natural pesticide and fertilizer.
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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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A
culture to change
Have you ever tried
to imagine this planet of ours actually talking
to us? I sometimes do, and the outcome is devastating.
It is one thing to see the cataclysmic events
happening before our eyes as the Earth's metaphorical
‘answers’ to human behavior—they’re
alarming responses, but at least they’re
delivered energetically. It's another to imagine
the Earth as being worn out and weakened, pleading
with a sad voice for a spell of respite.
People talk a lot about translating environmental
ideas into action. I would prefer to talk about
action to ‘do good’, because I don't
feel that action in itself is a virtue. If we
brought a bit of wisdom to the situation, we could
follow the path of ‘not doing’ in
our approach to the economy. Because sometimes
that is the key to real wealth. Refineries, high-speed
trains and cement works in the vineyards are open
injuries in the heart of places which are already
producing economic benefits in full health and
beauty. Why can't we let them continue to do so?
We need to beware, because the culture of doing,
if it is not restrained, becomes a culture of
redoing, undoing, doing too much and then demolishing,
all in the name of freedom, progress and affluence.
The economy of ‘not doing’, on the
other hand, is rooted in a culture of observing.
It asks the question: what need is there? The
economy of ‘not doing’ has a long-term
perspective, it doesn't think in terms of immediate
returns: it follows the rhythms of nature, not
of finance. It invests for very long periods and
enjoys incredible returns, because it is an economy
concerned about culture, identity, local areas,
origins, history and stories. It focuses on landscape,
tourism, knowledge, health and beauty. It nurtures
vineyards, small businesses, markets, relationships
and communities. When we speak about the economy
of ‘not doing’, we are simply speaking
about an economy of care. And care is something
serious, complex and delicate. It requires a sensitive
approach, competence and commitment. You can never
look after just a part. That is what our Earth
is asking us in a tired voice: it wants us to
look after it. We should listen and sooner or
later we will realize that the cure it needs is
the same as the one that we need. If we don't
set about this task, the only messages we will
be able to hear will be catastrophes. And after
each disaster the ambulances will be rushing to
the bottom of the cliff, while those wanting to
‘do good’ will see the prospects of
real wellbeing becoming more distant.
Carlo Petrini
From La Repubblica, May 21 2008,
A culture to change.
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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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What
is the best way universities can make a contribution
to the Terra Madre network? What exactly is their
role within the network?
Lövgren
Lars
Lecturer in Gastronomy at the University of Umeå,
Sweden
lars.lovgren@chem.umu.se
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Slow Food feels that universities should
play a crucial role in identifying and communicating knowledge
which currently is mainly transmitted orally and through practice.
This knowledge has in some ways been marginalized by ‘industrial
knowledge’. Today we know that it is in our interest
to build sustainable societies, and that to achieve this we
need to uphold traditional knowledge and to incorporate it
in the prestigious academic world.
Additionally, universities have the calling and aptitude to
educate consumers and promote sustainable systems of catering
and supply. Slow Food does not have an exact answer to the
best way of doing this, but we are sure that many people have
already started programs of this type. We hope to explore
these examples during Terra Madre 2008, where it will also
be possible to draw up guidelines for other academic institutions.
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Did
You Know that?
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Bleached chickens |
While in Europe and elsewhere bleach is used to wash laundry,
in the United States companies are using it to wash chicken
prior to sending it to market. The chicken carcasses are immersed
in antibacterial solutions (based on sodium hypochlorite, or
bleach) to eliminate bacteria in the meat.
The European Union instead uses clean drinking waste for this
procedure.
Today, bleach-washed chickens risk finishing up on European
tables. After 11 years of deadlock between the US and Europe
over ‘washed’ chicken, it seems that US pressure
has prevailed and the European ban on imports of meat treated
in this way is destined to be lifted soon. While there is talk
of the possible introduction of specific labeling, with a warning
to rinse the ‘disinfected’ chicken in water, the
US has already stated that it considers such labeling to be
a barrier to the free trade of their produce.
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Romanian communities receive
an unexpected visit |
Last month the Slow Food Presidium for
Saxon Village Preserves in Romania received an unexpected eminent
visitor. Prince Charles, for some time personally involved in
supporting rural communities in Romania, recently visited the
producers of the ADEPT
Foundation in Saschiz, whose members also include the Slow
Food Presidium producers of preserves. The Prince sampled the
communities’ products and expressed his appreciation for
all they were doing to defend traditional foods. Before leaving,
Prince Charles bought a selection of Romanian preserves to take
back to London.
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