Slow Food Beijing Festival Brings Over 300 Ark of Taste Products to the Chinese Capital

The Slow Food Beijing Festival will be held from Wednesday September 23 toSaturday September 26 at the Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone and Culture Free Port (Beijing). The event, organized by Slow Food Great China in collaboration with Slow Food International, Beijing Design Week and the Free Trade Zone of Beijing Airport, will focus on important issues like the value of local cultures and traditions, the safeguarding of biodiversity and the importance of food and taste education. The Festival is free and will be open every day from 10 am to 5 pm.

The Festival will focus on the Ark of Taste and includes the presentation of 100 Chinese products that represent local food culture, candidates for inclusion in the catalog of endangered foods. Since the start of Slow Food Great China activities in July 2015, food producers and farmers from 32 provinces, cities and autonomous regions as well as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan have suggested a large number of endangered local foods with the support of CAPIAC (China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation). A few examples: Heqing hamfrom Heqing county in the province of Yunnan, mountain forest pu’er tea from the Mekong region and suancha from Mangjing village in Puer city, in the Yunnan region.

Alongside the Chinese products, there will also be 200 Ark of Taste products from the rest of the world (some will be presented visually and the others will bephysically present at the event). These will include a wide range of different product types (fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, tubers, legumes, nuts, preserved vegetables, cured meat, cereals, flours, pasta, rice, oil, vinegar, honey, spices, syrups, cacao, tea, coffee and wine) from all over Europe, North and South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. Examples include argan oil from Morocco,Merken from Chile, Farim salt from Guinea Bissau, Don tea from South Korea,Rimbas black pepper from Malaysia, mead from Poland and Okanagan sockeye salmon from Canada. An exhibition will explain the history and the importance of the Ark of Taste project.

At Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone and Culture Free Port, Slow Food Presidia products from all around the world will also be available to taste and buy, in order to raise public awareness about the project in China.

Slow Food leaders and delegates will be arriving from around the world to attend the event, including General Secretary Paolo di Croce and Ursula Hudson of Slow Food Germany from the Slow Food Executive Committee; Serena Milano, the General Secretary of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity; and delegates from the UK, Denmark, Austria, Bulgaria, the USA, Canada, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Kenya, South Africa, South Korea and Indonesia.

The inauguration of the event will take place at the Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone and Culture Free Port on the morning of Wednesday September 23. After the inauguration, international delegates will attend the Slow Food International Workshop at the China Millennium Monument organized by Slow Food Great China (open to the public and journalists). The seminar will focus on a presentation of the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity and Slow Food’s campaigns.

On Friday September 25, Slow Food Great China will organize a Forum, open to the public and journalists, entitled Slow Food Times. The main themes will be thepromotion of a healthy food culture; increasing awareness of “good, clean and fair food”; eliminating food waste; encouraging the protection of animal rightsand interests; identifying and supporting opportunities for the growth of urban agriculture; protecting, identifying and rejuvenating local “food memories” and defending territories in order to establish food security. Qiao Ling, the chair of Slow Food Great China, will also be attending the Forum.

On the evening of the festival’s last day, September 26, delegates will participate in the Opening Ceremony of Beijing Design Week, a huge design fair which last year registered more than 4 million visitors, and one of the partners of the Slow Food Beijing Festival. The event is open to the public.

For more information:

www.slowfoodchina.org

www.slowfood.com

or contact the Slow Food International Press Office:

Paola Nano, +39 329 8321285, [email protected]

Slow Food involves millions of people who follow the philosophy of good, clean and fair food. The network is made up of enthusiasts, chefs, experts, young people, food producers, fishers and academics in over 150 countries. It includes 100,000 Slow Food members worldwide, who belong to 1,500 local chapters. Their membership fee helps to fund the association, and they participate in many locally organized events. The network also includes the 2,000 Terra Madre food communities, who are committed to sustainable, small-scale food production.