“Foods that change the world” on display in piazza Carignano

Images have the ability to describe complex concepts and convey powerful messages. Until October 29 in Piazza Carignano, Turin (in the heart of the city), a special photo exhibition will portray the profound connection between food and territory, potential models for development, the relationship between the global south and north and the consequences of our daily actions on the future of the planet. The exhibition entitled “Foods that change the world” is organized by Slow Food and the City of Turin as part of the European-funded project, 4Cities4Dev.
The 4Cities4Dev project, co-funded by the European Union, involves four European cities – Turin, Tours, Bilbao and Riga – that have adopted seven Terra Madre food communities in Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Kenya and Madagascar. The project aims to increase awareness among European citizens about responsible consumption and the consequences of their food habits by allowing them to discover these communities through a series of communicative tools.
The exhibition presents small, positive examples and concrete proposals for sustainable development. Through the faces, products and stories of the food communities, it suggests local solutions to the current environmental, social and cultural problems linked to food.
This preview is an invitation to participate in Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre, where an even larger exhibition, also organized for the 4Cities4Dev project, will be at the Oval Olympic Arena. There, visitors can experience a travelling exhibition that has toured all four of the European partner cities to illustrate an approach to development cooperation that turns food into an agent for change. Ours is an integrated model that places food at the center of attention, to unite various points that are usually separate: protection of biodiversity and environmental sustainability, attention to local communities and their traditions and cultures, and economic justice for producers. With this approach we hope to help European consumers understand the impact of their choices and that what is decided in one place will inevitably have consequences elsewhere.
The exhibition at the Oval confronts some of the most serious problems caused by the globalized food industry, but also explores some possible solutions to these problems. The display begins with a trip around the world through photographs, and continues with an invitation to shop in a small model supermarket in a guided tour that stimulates reflection: Every choice made by the consumer is followed by an explanation of the consequences of that choice. Moving on participants will have the chance to discover the unexpected story of foods that we think we know well, but that in reality we know very little about. Finally, through a short interactive course visitors can see how food can be recognized and appreciated not just through taste, but also touch, smell and even hearing.
And finally, through the words and images of the protagonists of the three documentaries that were filmed on-site in the African food communities adopted under the 4Cities4Dev project, small but significant stories of potential alternatives will be presented: examples of resistance to the uncontrolled madness of the global food system.
The examples chosen by 4Cities4Dev are the Pokot Ash Yoghurt Presidium (Kenya) and the Harenna Forest Wild Coffee Presidium (Ethiopia), adopted by Bilbao; the Dogon Somè (Mali) and the Fadiouth Island Salted Millet Couscous (Senegal) Presidia adopted by Turin; the Mananara Vanilla Presidium (Madagascar) adopted by Riga and finally the Imraugen Women’s Mullet Botargo Presidium (Mauritania) and the N’Ganon and Nangounkaha Community Gardens (Ivory Coast) adopted by Tours.

For more information, see : www.4cities4dev.eu
Jacopo Borazzo

Here the slide show of the exibition: