Portuguese farmers’ market joins the Slow Food Earth Markets network and hosts the launch of the national Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance

On November 26 in Sistelo (Portugal)

Slow Food Earth Markets network will welcome a new member, the first one in Portugal and will reach the global network of 95 worldwide.

The Sistelo Market features local small producers from the “Terras do Alto Vez”, offering fresh local products and exclusive, high-quality flavors, from vegetables, cornbread, fruit, cheese, eggs and certified meats, among others. In particular, two Ark of Taste products will be available to the public: the Soajo and Peneda Sierra Tarrestre bean and Arcos de Valdevez Corn bread.

Located in the Peneda-Gerês National Park, the Sistelo village is one of the most beautiful villages in northern Portugal. The market takes place every last Sunday of every month, all year long, from 9am to 4pm – in Lugar da Igreja.

The Earth Market is a project implemented by members of the Slow Food community ‘Slow Food Village – Sistelo’ with the support of the administrative unit of Sistelo, with the support of the municipality of Arcos de Valdevez and funded by the PDR2020 programme (Rural Development Programme 2014-2020) in its measure 10 and managed by ADRIL (Lima Integrated Rural Development Association).

It aims to raise awareness of the value of the products of the local agricultural and gastronomic heritage by creating an alternative to existing commercial channels that usually sell products of industrial agriculture, transported from long distances and mostly grown in greenhouses and using intensive methods. The Sistelo Slow Food Earth Market intends to provide a reliable alternative for those in search of good, clean and fair food.

Sistelo’s Mayor Sergio Rodrigues declares: “The market’s main objective is to encourage production and increase the number of producers. Our market was born from the idea of having a place where our producers can sell their products close to the place of production and directly to the consumer, minimizing their logistical costs and thus optimizing their profitability. Its impact is enormous. The fair valuation of the product translates into sustainable development for the village, both through increased income and through the social, environmental and landscape development of an area where the terraced landscape is classified as a National Monument. Also very important is the valorisation of the Earth Market as a tourist attraction for the tens of thousands of annual visitors.”

During the opening ceremony, which will be attended by some representatives of the international Earth markets’ network (Mercat de la Terra di Barcelona from Spain and Samstag Mart from Italy) national Slow Food convivia and communities, the Galician Slow Food members from Santiago de Compostela, and some representatives of the partners and the local administration, the launch of the Portuguese Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance will take place.

The Portuguese Alliance is the last one to join the Slow Food network of 1264 cooks defending food biodiversity across 31 countries in the world.

Cooks from restaurants, bistros, cantines and street kitchens who support small producers, the custodians of biodiversity, everyday by using products from Presidia projects and the Ark of Taste, as well as local fruits, vegetables and cheeses, in their kitchens.

The cooks are requested to add the names of the producers to their menus, to give visibility to their work. The Alliance Cooks travel, meet with one another, participate in events and cook together.

Vasco Guimarães, referent of the Slow Food cooks’ Alliance in Portugal, says: „The launch of the Cooks’ Alliance in Portugal is an opportunity for all of us, under the aegis of Slow Food and with the help of the chefs, to get to know and value our local products and their producers in a more structured way, giving strong encouragement and recognition to their work, promoting food as the identity of a territory”.

Here the program of the Sunday 26^th

10.00h  Opening of the Sistelo local Market – Lugar da Igreja – Sistelo – Arcos de Valdevez

11.00h – Official recognition of the Sistelo Slow Food Earth Market with the Slow Food  international coordination in the person of Ms Elena Sandrone and local institutions.

12.00h – Show Cooking Slow Food – with local products from Sistelo Earth Market and run by Alliance chefs, including Vasco Guimarães, Liliana Duarte, Alvaro Dinis.

15.00h – Presentation of the Slow Food “Cooks Alliance” with the Slow Food  international coordination in the person of Ms Daniela Conte and Vasco Guimarães (title: “Lançamento do projeto Aliança dos Cozinheiros Slow Food de Portugal”

16.00h – Signature of the constitution of the Portuguese Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance

Here the list of the cooks who have joined the Portuguese Slow Food Alliance so far.

• Ana Costa from Costa do Vez (Arcos de Valdevez)
• Dantas Joaquim from Habitat Natural (Arcos de Valdevez)
• João D’Eça Lima from Xisto (Louçainha, Penela, Coimbra)
• Lídia Brás from Stramuntana Gaia (Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto)
• Liliana Duarte and Alvaro Dinis Oliveira from Cor de Tangerina (Guimarães)
• Marco Sousa from Tia Amélia (Sistelo)
• Noélia Jerónimo from Noélia (Tavira)
• Paula Miguel from Ficus Café Concerto (Olhão)
• Renato Cunha from Ferrugem (Vila Nova de Famalicão)
• Sandra Amado from Canto do Lobo (Caminha)
• Susana Pinho from Quinta Nova (Vila Real)
• Susana Vieira from Pedrógão (Arouca)
• Vasco Guimarães from Casas da Lì (Arcos de Valdevez)
• Victor Hugo Sintra from Porter Bistro (Lisboa)

More info:

https://www.mercadodesistelo.pt/

Contact persons:

Jorge Miranda, Slow Food Alto-Minho leader: [email protected]

Esmeralda Vieira, Earth Market coordinator: [email protected]

Slow Food International Press Office

Paola Nano – [email protected] (+39) 329 8321285

Alessia Pautasso – [email protected] (+39) 342 8641029

Slow Food is a worldwide network of local communities founded in 1989 in order to counteract the disappearance of local food traditions and the spread of fast food culture. Since then, Slow Food has grown to become a global movement that involves millions of people in more than 160 countries and works so that we can all have access to good, clean and fair food.