2,500 Young Farmers and Food Leaders Gather in Milan to Give Real Answers to EXPO’s Topic of Feeding the Planet

From October 3 – 6, 2015, over 2,500 farmers and young food leaders will gather in Milan to define real answers and solutions for a sustainable future of food and thus to EXPO’s theme: Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life. They come from 120 countries (from Australia, North America, around 30 Asian countries, 30 European countries, 20 Latin American countries, and 35 African countries). They are the changemakers within our food system and together they will shape new ideas for a sustainable future of food.

Slow Food and the Slow Food Youth Network strongly believe that an interdisciplinary group of food professionals from diverse backgrounds can bring about great change in the food system. The Terra Madre Giovani – We Feed the Planet* interdisciplinary group consists of more than 1500 small-scale producers from countries such as Uganda, South-Africa, Kazakhstan, Germany and Brazil; their participation is made possible thanks to a large international crowdfunding campaign (www.wefeedtheplanet.com). Also participating in the event will be more than 1,000 young chefs, other food professionals, scientists, designers, academics, IT-professionals and entrepreneurs who will bring their specific knowledge and expertise to the table.

The main goal of the four-day event is to frame solutions to the following five key issues related to our current food system:          

– Innovation: How do we produce our food in the future?

– Power: How do we redistribute power in global food systems evenly?

– Heritage: How can we preserve our heritage?

– Message: What are the best communication strategies for change?

– Commons: How can we design a new strategy for the commons?

The answers to these questions and a suggested action plan will be presented during the Grand Finale on the last day, which will take place within Expo 2015 and feature a gathering of all 2,500 participants.

The event sets out to inspire, create and refine ideas and models that will contribute to feeding the planet in a good, clean and fair way. Conferences, discussions, hackathons and workshops will be jointly organized with program partners including: FAO, IFAD, Fondazione ACRA, Oxfam, Agriterra, Nordic Food Lab,  the Sustainable Food Trust, Het Nieuwe Instituut and BESH. Key speakers, such as Carlo Petrini (president of Slow Food International), Alice Waters (activist & chef, owner of Chez Panisse), Raj Patel (academic, activist and writer of Stuffed & Starved) and Serge Latouche (author & professor of economics at the University of Paris-Sud), will also contribute by offering their insight and knowledge through presentations, interviews and discussions.

* Terra Madre Giovani – We Feed the Planet (from October 3-6, 2015) is an event by Slow Food, the Slow Food Youth Network, the University of Gastronomic Sciences and the Terra Madre Foundation in collaboration with Fondazione Cariplo, Compagnia di San Paolo, the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity, with the support of the Comune di Milano. The four-day event will take place in the center of Milan, divided over two major locations: the urban farmers’ market Mercato Metropolitano and event location Superstudio, both situated in the Porta Genova area. This event focuses on the future of food and farming. The event website offers further details on the event and its program: www.wefeedtheplanet.com
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