A strong delegation from Mexico and Central America at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto

Organized by Slow Food in collaboration with the Region of Piedmont and the City of Turin, the 12^th edition of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, the most important international event dedicated to food culture, will take place from September 20 to 24, 2018, in Turin, Italy. Over 5,000 delegates from 140 countries, over 800 exhibitors, 300 Slow Food Presidia, and 500 Terra Madre food communities will gather in Turin.

Slow Food’s delegation from Mexico and Central America consists of about 80 people. Mexico will be the most represented country from the region, with almost 50 delegates coming to Turin this year, many of them young people. Together with Brazil, the Slow Food Mexico network is one of the most active in Central and South America. A diverse group of family farmers, producers, chefs, academics, activists from the Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN), students, and representatives of indigenous communities are eagerly awaiting the event.

Alfonso Salvador Rocha Robles, International Councillor for Mexico and Central America, will join us in Turin. Speaking about Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, Alfonso says: “I am extremely proud to be part of the international network that is Slow Food, and to represent a delegation that will take part in Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2018. Food for change is the theme of this 12^th edition and I am sure that, through exchange and dialogue with people who differ in culture, language, and customs, every one of us will return home richer and with new enthusiasm for pursuing our activities and striving for a better future for our planet.”

Within the International Market, located in the Lingotto Fiere and Oval, Mexico will host an area dedicated to showcasing Slow Food Presidium products, which members of the public will be able to taste and purchase. Starting in southern Mexico and moving north, participants will find:

• the newly recognized Banco Chinchorro and Sian Ka’an Spiny Lobster Presidium. Producers connected with the Slow Fish Caribe project will participate in the Slow Fish area and will take part in the Terra Madre Forum Protected Marine Areas: Solution or Problem? (September 23 at 11:00 a.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere);
• three Presidia from Yucatán, developed within the Maya community with the support of local the organization El Hombre Sobre La Tierra and the agroecological school U Yits Ka’an: the Yucatán Peninsula Hairless Pig, Yucatán Peninsula Pumpkin Seeds, and Yucatán Peninsula Xunankab Bee Honey;
• Chontalpa Cacao (from the State of Tabasco), which the Piedmontese artisanal chocolate company Guido Gobino uses for making its so-called Chontalpa chocolate range. This cacao variety is considered one of the rarest and most prestigious in the world;
• from the State of Oaxaca, Chinantla Vanilla and a new Presidium for Oaxaca Agave: The Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity – in collaboration with IFAD, young people from the Mixtec indigenous communities, and representatives of the local organization Mujeres Milenarias in El Almacen community (Santa Maria Apazco municipality, Nochixtlan region) – has been working in the region to develop and promote these native varieties of agave;
• Presidia from the Mexican Plateau, including the Tlaola Serrano Chili Pepper, Mexican Plateau Agave, Tepetlixpa Native Beans, and Puebla Sierra Norte Native Bees Honey.

Also worth mentioning are the Mexican indigenous communities, part of the Indigenous Terra Madre network, that are involved in many of the Presidia listed above. Some representatives of the network will come to Turin, together with Dali Nolasco Cruz (the network’s national coordinator), representatives of the news agency Notimia (which is very active in giving voice to indigenous people in Mexico), and a representative of the Red de Jovenes Indigenas de America Latina y El Caribe.

This year, the beating heart of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto will be the #foodforchange thematic areas: Slow Food has identified five major themes (Slow Meat, Slow Fish, Seeds, Food and Health, and Bees and Insects) on which it is working diligently with a positive and inclusive approach. Each of these areas will include a kitchen where Mexican chefs from the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance and others will delight the public with some traditional dishes:

• Máximo Bistrot’s chef Eduardo Garcia, named among the “50 Best” of his country, will illustrate the use of bitter cacao in the traditional Mexican mole poblano and other savory recipes during the Taste Workshop Mexico: Mole Poblano, All the Virtues of Cacao (September 22 at 1:00 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere).
• Claudia Albertina Ruiz Sántiz, indigenous Tzotzil chef at the Kokono restaurant in San Cristóbal de Las Casas, will present and cook with Mexican native beans – bola amarillo, ayocote morado, bayo, mantequilla, pinto, vaquita amarillo, and vaquita rojo, each of which has its own colors and recipes – during the Taste Workshop Mexico: Milpa Beans – Slow Beans (September 22 at 2:30 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere). All of these bean varieties come from Tepetlixpa, a municipality in the State of Mexico, where Slow Food has created a Presidium to promote this extraordinary richness.
• During the Taste Workshop Mexico: The Maya Pig – A Matter of Breeding (September 23 at 1:00 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), Regina Escalante Bush, the young and brilliant star of Mexican gastronomy, named by Larousse Cocina as one of the top 20 young cooks in the country in 2017, will present regional techniques for cooking with one of Mexico’s most characteristic pig breeds, the Yucatán Peninsula Hairless Pig (Slow Food Presidium), with meat kindly offered by the Piedmontese company Parva Domus, which has embraced the same philosophy of animal welfare promoted by the Presidium.

The two winners of the Slow Beer Mexico competition 2018 will receive a return ticket to Terra Madre Salone del Gusto. They are the brewery Rámuri (Tijuana, Baja California), winner in the Best of Show category, and the brewery Huérfana (Saltillo, Coahuila), winner in the special category Agave Maguey. At its third edition, the event sought to promote food biodiversity in Mexico by linking breweries with food communities and Presidia in the country’s Slow Food network.

Representing El Salvador will be a delegation of six people, including entrepreneurs and representatives from MINEC (Ministry of Economy) who will take part in the B2B area; Claudia Sanchez Cortez and Mougli Delcid Rivera, two representatives of Cijoes, a youth network from the western area of the country; and Amedeo Martinez, representing the FILAC (Fund for the Development of Indigenous Peoples of Latin America).

Many delegates will come to Turin to join the Terra Madre Forum focused on the Slow Fish Caribe project (September 21 at 2:00 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere). Slow Fish Caribe was launched in 2017 to promote the conservation of biodiversity in Caribbean coastal ecosystems and coral reefs, consolidating good practices for the sustainable use of food resources in Biosphere Reserves. From Costa Rica will come Flor de Maria Fallas Quesada, a fisher from Limón involved in a fishing association that works to reduce the population of lionfish, an invasive species that threatens Costa Rica’s fish populations; and chef Julio Alberto Alpizar Alonzo, who will prepare typical recipes for the public to taste. From Honduras will come two representatives of the Centro de Estudios Marinos and Cristina Morataya from Slow Food Tegucigalpa Gastronómica. Remigio Morgan Avila, an indigenous fisher from a natural reserve, will come from Panama, representing a foundation that fights for the protection of natural resources in the Guna Yala area.

Taste Workshops and Cooking Schools are paid events and tickets can be purchased online; the Terra Madre thematic Forums are presented by delegates of the network and are open to the public as long as seats are available. Click here for the list of available events, which is constantly updated.

Alfonso Salvador Rocha Robles – International Councillor for Mexico and Central America

[email protected]

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2018 Press Office

Slow Food, +39 329 83 212 85 [email protected] – Twitter: @SlowFoodPress

Region of Piedmont, +39 011 432 2549 – [email protected]

City of Turin, +39 011 011 21976 – +39 342 1100131 – [email protected]

To request press accreditation, please click here.

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is an event organized by the City of Turin, Slow Food, and the Region of Piedmont in collaboration with MIPAAF (Italy’s Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies). It has been made possible thanks to its many sponsors, including the Official Partners, GLEvents-Lingotto Fiere, IREN, Lavazza, Lurisia, Parmigiano Reggiano, Pastificio Di Martino and Quality Beer Academy; with the support of Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione CRT-Cassa di Risparmio di Torino, Associazione delle Fondazioni di Origine Bancaria del Piemonte, and Coldiretti; and with the contribution of IFAD, the European Union, and CIA (Confederazione Italiana Agricoltori).

Slow Food is a global grassroots organization that envisions a world in which all people can access and enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it, and good for the planet. Slow Food involves over a million activists, chefs, experts, youth, farmers, fishers, and academics in over 160 countries.