Slow Food at the Citizens’ CETA Summit

On October 20^th Slow Food will organize a lunch on the Esplanade in front of the European Parliament, as part of the “Citizens’ CETA Summit”.

The event aims to highlight the concerns surrounding CETA- the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement proposed between Canada and the EU.

Mayors, councillors and regional representatives who have declared their regions ‘TTIP/CETA free zones’ from across the EU, will join with MEPs, Canadian guests, and NGOs to meet the press and highlight the issues of concern during an important week for the CETA negotiations.

Together, they will publicly sign a statement in opposition to the provisions of the CETA deal.

The Slow Food lunch will be entirely based on good, clean and fair products.

There will be 7 European Presidia products and 3 European Ark of Taste products, as well as local ingredients sourced from producers embracing the Slow Food approach: production practices respectful of the environment and of farmers, short and direct value chains, the promotion of food biodiversity and traditional knowledge.

Three Slow Food producers will participate at the event: Madeleine Hanseen (Raw Milk Herve Presidium, Belgium), Christian Aguerre (Kintoa Basque Pig Presidium, France) and Dieter Rohde (Northern Hesse Ahle Wurscht, Ark of Taste, Germany). The lunch is organised with the help of the local Slow Food Metropolitan Brussels Convivium and the involvement of Olivier Cazaubon, of the Slow Food Chefs Alliance.

The gathering comes at a crucial moment for the CETA negotiations. Two days before this event, on October 18^th, Trade Ministers are poised to sign and provisionally apply CETA, while discussions on trade, CETA and TTIP will continue at the EU Summit on October 20-21. A week later, Canadian Prime minister Justin Trudeau is scheduled to officially sign CETA along with EU officials at the EU-Canada Summit, on October 27-28. It is therefore a key moment to raise concerns, and highlight Slow Food’s opposition to CETA and other similar trade deals currently under negotiation.

If you wish to attend the event, please register here.

Click here to find out more on CETA.