Slow Food President Meets German Minister

Slow Food president and founder Carlo Petrini met with Renate Künast, the German Minister of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, in Berlin yesterday. Together they devised the groundwork for a government program of taste education to be supported by Slow Food Germany.

Also participating in the historic meeting were Friederike Klatt, president of Slow Food Germany, and Bernward Geier, head of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM).

“There are a lot of points in common between our goals of taste education and the projects and philosophies of Slow Food,” stated Minister Künast during a press conference after the meeting. She went on to say, “Since I became minister, I have sought to improve taste education, starting with the youngest members of society –elementary school pupils”.

At this point Carlo Petrini stepped in: “We are preparing for the Slow Food International Congress in Naples in November, where among other things we will once again give a resounding ‘No’ to genetically modified foods and, above all, to the argument according to which Europe is starving the Southern Hemisphere by not accepting genetically modified foods. On the contrary, we believe that now more than ever it is crucial to defend biodiversity and to develop a model of sustainable agriculture, incorporating the rural community and the traditional agricultural methods of small farmers. Slow Food aims to create a bond between farmers and consumers, and this is only possible with a series of educational programs”.

For further information:
Slow Food Press Office
Valter Musso, Alessandra Abbona, Paola Nano
tel. 0172 419615 /666 /645
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