Cheese 2007

Slow Food’s traditional biennial ‘Cheese’ event kicks off in Bra, Italy, tomorrow morning. Like all events organized by Slow Food, Cheese 2007 is an international showcase for the association’s projects, a means for defending small-scale production and valuable know-how.

Besides exhibiting the finest dairy produce from around the world, Cheese 2007 will teach consumers to make discerning choices and promote producers ambitious enough to combine high product quality with respect for the environment.

Over the years, cheese affineurs have spontaneously created a cooperative network involving Italy, Britain, France, Switzerland and Spain. They will be present again this year to describe their fascinating profession and sell their prized produce.

The first event within the event tomorrow morning will be a press conference at 11.45 (Press office, Palazzo Mathis, Corso Cottolengo, Bra) on GMOs, an ongoing conflict. Among the speakers will be Marie-Hélène Aubert, vice-president of the Greens and member of the Agriculture Commission at the European Parliament, Carlo Petrini, international president of Slow Food, and Roberto Burdese, president of Slow Food Italia, who will present the GMO-free Italy-Europe campaign to which visitors to Cheese 2007 in the course of the event.

At 2.45pm the Italian Minister of Agriculture and Forestries Paolo De Castro and Carlo Petrini will meet journalists at the Cheese 2007 Press Office in Palazzo Mathis, Corso Cottolengo, Bra.

The official inauguration of Cheese 2007, attended by De Castro, Petrini and a number local dignitaries will take place at 3.15pm on the terrace overlooking Via Garibaldi.

Follow the site over the weekend for updates on Cheese 2007. For even more detailed information, readers of Italian are warmly recommended to visit www.slowfood.it.