Indigenous Terra Madre lands in Taiwan

The first ever edition of the event showcases Taiwanese indigenous cultures, aims to create a new form of sustainable tourism and tackle the effects of the climate crisis

The first edition of Indigenous Terra Madre Taiwan will take place on December 12-14, 2019 in Hualien, gathering more than 200 Taiwanese indigenous delegates and international delegates from Japan and the Philippines. The event aims to enhance indigenous food systems in order to protect local ecosystems and to shed light on tourism as a tool to preserve indigenous cultures.

Supporting indigenous communities and their traditional food systems means preserving the world’s biodiversity. The Indigenous Terra Madre (ITM) network brings indigenous voices to the forefront of the debate on food and culture and to institutionalize indigenous peoples’ participation in the Slow Food movement. In Hualien there will be representatives of 16 Taiwanese indigenous peoples (the Amis, Atayal, Paiwan, Bunun, Tsou, Rukai, Pinuyumayan, Saisiyat, Yami, Thao, Kavalan, Truku, Sakizaya, Sediq, Hla’alua, and Kanakanavu peoples) who will discuss their rights to control their own land, grow food and breed livestock as a way to defend their local biodiversity of native animal breeds and plant varieties.

In fact, indigenous peoples are too often fighting against land and water grabbing, cultural erosion, social discrimination and economic marginalization. The event will create an international platform in which indigenous people will be able to collaborate to rebuild the connection between food and land and reduce the effect from capitalism transforming Hualien in a “good, clean and fair” place where biodiversity is the protagonist. The 3-day event will be full of panel discussions, workshops, foraging activities and cooking session.

From Japan, Dai Kitabayashi (Indigenous Terra Madre Network Advisory Board) will be among the speakers at a panel discussion dedicated to the activities of the Indigenous Terra Madre network around the world, while Shogo Manna (Slow Food Ryukyu cook) will lead a workshop dedicated to the indigenous food of the Ryukyu islands in Japan. From the Philippines, Lamen Gonnay (leader of the Slow Food Community for the preservation of traditional indigenous knowledge of the food heritage in Pasil) will share the successful story of the Community, while Miko Dy (founder of the Slow Food Cooks’ Alliance in the Philippines) will talk about the role of chefs in the promotion of local indigenous foods.

Wu Hsueh-Yueh (leader of the Slow Food Community Hualien–Taiwan, for the preservation of Indigenous Biodiversity) will talk about Slow Food’s role in the protection of biodiversity and indigenous food culture and about the next steps for Slow Food in Taiwan.

ITM Taiwan in Hualien is organized by Slow Food Community Hualien–Taiwan for the Preservation of Indigenous Biodiversity, Slow Food, the Indigenous Terra Madre network, the Council of Indigenous People, the Hualien Indigenous People Department and the Bureau of Agriculture of the Hualien County Government.

For more information please contact:

Slow Food HQ: Giulia Capaldi – [email protected]

Slow Food is a global network of local communities founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions and counteract the rise of fast food culture. Since its founding, Slow Food has grown into a global movement involving millions of people in over 160 countries, working to ensure that everyone has access to good, clean and fair food. Slow Food is the umbrella organization responsible for guiding the entire movement.

Indigenous Terra Madre (ITM) is a network of indigenous communities, partners and organizations formed to bring indigenous peoples’ voices to the forefront of the debate on food and culture, and to develop both regional and global networks. At present it involves thousands of individuals in 86 countries. ITM events have been organized globally, regionally, and locally. The first global ITM event was held in Sweden in 2011 and the second in India in 2015.