Slow Food en France is Coming to Italy for Terra Madre Salone del Gusto

A delegation of 100 people is set to take part in the most important international event dedicated to food culture and tradition.

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

The Slow Food en France delegation includes family farmers, producers, academics, chefs, activists in the Slow Food Youth Network (SFYN), and students. Vincent Lagré, Slow Food International Councillor for France, will be in Turin as well. Speaking about Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, Vincent 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 12th edition and I am sure that, through exchange of ideas and dialogue with people who differ in culture, language, and customs, every one of us will return home richer and with new enthusiasm to strive for a better future for our planet.”

Slow Food en France will host one of the most eagerly awaited international spaces at the Market pavilion, located in the Lingotto Fiere and Oval. At the Market, the public can taste and buy many Slow Food Presidia products: several from the French Basque region (Heirloom Itxassou Cherry Varieties, Manex Tête Noire Lamb, Kintoa Basque Pig, Basque Pyrenees Mountain Cheeses, Basque Grand Roux Corn, Basque Country and Seignanx Mild Chili, Northern Basque Country Cider), but also Saint-Flour Golden Lentil, Noir de Bigorre Pig, Haute-Provence Einkorn, and Rove Brousse Goat Cheese. The area will also feature a stand run by Basque chefs who will cook crepes made and topped with Slow Food Presidia products from the region, and a stand run by Provençal chefs preparing crepes made with the Haute-Provence Einkorn flour and topped with the Rove Brousse Goat Cheese. A stand will be dedicated to the publisher Plume de Carotte, which recently published the Grand Guide Slow Food des produits du terroir français, a book dedicated to the Slow Food biodiversity projects active in France.

François Pasteau, member of the Chefs’ Alliance and presenter of the RTL radio program Le Plat du Jour, will take part in the Terra Madre Forum Food For Change: Grow a Climate-Friendly Future (September 20 at 3:30 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), together with Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food International, and Richard McCarthy, president of Slow Food USA, who will moderate the event. They will discuss the strong connection between the food we eat and climate change, highlighting the fact that agriculture, one of the primary causes of climate change, can also be one of the solutions.

Many French delegates will take part in the over 600 events that will run during the 5-day event. This year, the beating heart of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto will be the #foodforchange thematic areas, dedicated to five major themes that Slow Food has identified (Slow Meat, Slow Fish, Seeds, Food and Health, and Bees and Insects), where thematic forums, Taste Workshops, and Cooking Schools will take place:

• Within the Slow Meat thematic area, Christophe Masson, coordinator and member of the Slow Food Presidium for the Noir de Bigorre Pig, the oldest known pig breed in France, will take part in the Taste Workshop Black is Back – Traditional Pig Breeds (September 23 at 5:30 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), during which ancient pig breeds will be compared. Cristophe will share his knowledge and experiences from the field. Christian Aguerre, member of the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance and coordinator of the Kintoa Basque Pig Slow Food Presidium, will take part in the Terra Madre Forum Quality Farming – Pigs (September 22 at 4:00 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere). The Basque Kintoa Pig is at risk because of its low reproductive capacity, but thanks to the fact that this pig can be bred in a natural context, and to the high quality of its meat, it can be saved from extinction. Christian will also lead the Taste Workshop The Basque Countries: Crazy about Terrines – From Nose to Tail (September 22 at 10:30 a.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), preparing dishes from the less prized parts of the pig.

• The Seeds area will provide visitors with information on rural seeds, food gardens, and soil fertility, as well as on oilseeds and their properties. Six multinationals control 63% of the seed market, marketing the same hybrids all over the world. In order to save biodiversity, we need to support small-scale producers of traditional seeds. Xavier Hamon, chef and coordinator of the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance, will address this issue during the Terra Madre Forum The Art and Practice of Saving Seeds (September 23 at 5:30 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), presenting the campaign “Graines d’une Bretagne d’avenir.” This topic will also be discussed in the Taste Workshop Specialty Seeds Recipes (September 23 at 5:30 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), during which Xavier and his collaborator Elise Chazara will prepare two tastings of local, seasonal vegetable varieties, grown from protected seeds. Luis Barraud, Slow Food activist and member of our partner association Pour une Agriculture du Vivant, will take part in and moderate the Terra Madre Forum The Future is Under Your Feet (September 24 at 11:00 a.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), together with Francois Mulet, agronomist and member of the association. Experts on soils, they will discuss the importance of soil fertility and biodiversity: Depleted and polluted land cannot produce healthy food.

• Within the Slow Fish thematic area, Elisabeth Tempier, coordinator of the Mediterranean Prud’homies Slow Food Presidium, will take part in the Terra Madre Forum Stop Ocean Grabbing: Managing the Ocean Together (September 22 at 10:30 a.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), sharing the experience of the 33 prud’homies (fishing collectives) that operate along France’s Mediterranean coast, and which have managed French marine resources for over ten centuries, playing an essential role in conserving marine areas. Talking about sustainable fishing is not the exclusive task of fishers, policy makers, and environmental organizations. French filmmaker Mathilde Jounot, who explored the theme of sea grabbing in her documentary Océans, la voix des invisibles, and Pierre Mollo, marine biologist specialized in plankton who composed a symphonic work dedicated to the sea, will take part in the Terra Madre Forum The Art, Music, Cuisine, and Poetry Allied with the Sea (September 22 at 4:00 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), together with other artists, cooks, directors, musicians, and poets.

Edouard de Laubrie, head of the Agriculture & Food division at MUCEM (Musée des civilisations de l’Europe et de la Méditerranée), will give a speech in the opening conference of the Festival Internazionale della Cucina Mediterranea (“international festival of Mediterranean cuisine), entitled The Mediterrean, A Unifying Sea (September 20 at 5:30 p.m. – Terra Madre Arena), sharing MUCEM’s vision with the public and creating a basis for developing synergies.

Samuel Nahon, co-founder of Terroirs d’Avenir, will take part in the Terra Madre Forum Food and the City (September 22 at 10:30 a.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), sharing an innovative entrepreneurial model as an example of success in combining gastronomy and sustainable agriculture (through the creating of an alternative food distribution model in Paris).

On the theme of agroecology, Maxime De Rostolan, coordinator of the association Fermes d’Avenir – Agroecologie & Permaculture, will take part in the Terra Madre Forum Feeding the Planet with Agroecology (September 22 at 10:30 a.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), sharing the project that she is working on to help young, first generation farmers promote a new model of agriculture based on the principles of agroecology and in line with the current socio-economic context.

Finally, during the Dinner Date Blind Dinner: A Mixed Team of Italian and French Chefs (September 20 at 7:30 p.m. – casa del Quartiere di San Salvario, Via Morgari 14), chef Xavier Hamon, with a team of 15 chefs from the French Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance and Turin’s Bagni Municipali, will improvise a menu based on products found in the market booths, mixing the traditions of the two countries.

Taste Workshops and Cooking Schools are paid events and 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.

Vincent Lagré – International Councillor for France

[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.