The Rich Biodiversity of Latin America at the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2012

Over 200 farmers, artisans, chefs and young people from across Latin America are participating in the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre this October to showcase the rich food biodiversity of their region. The delegation is represented in the international Marketplace with 22 Slow Food Presidia and a range of other products, and is participating in numerous Taste Workshops, conferences, educational activities and a biodiversity area. Some delegates are also taking part in the Slow Food International Congress, held every four years to bring together the association’s local leaders and decide upon strategies for the future of Slow Food, the Terra Madre network and projects to defend biodiversity.

The immense diversity of the continent’s ecosystem, from the forests, to the Andes to arid and semi-arid areas, will guide visitors through a journey to discover Latin America. The Marketplace is divided by product type and ecosystem, uniting producers of coffee, cocoa, honey and spirits from 20 different countries. Visitors can taste and compare coffee produced by eight different food communities, such as Café Feminino from Peru and Huehuetenango Highland Coffee from Guatemala; or try honey from the Slow Food Presidia Sateré-Mawé Canudo Nectar from Brazil and the Puebla Sierra Norte Native Bees Honey in Mexico. Read the story and look at the pictures of this extraordinary honey.

In the area dedicated to Latin America’s world-renowned spirits, the display will range from organic Divinopolis cachaça, a typical Brazilian spirit aged in oak barrels for over two years, to liqueurs made from local fruit varieties, grown by a women’s cooperative in Montevideo, Uruguay. For visitors looking to deepen their knowledge, two Taste Workshops will uncover some of the world’s best rums: Pure Single Rum on October 25 will be a journey through the rum’s of Guyana, Venezuela, Jamaica and Barbados, whilst the Clairin Rums of Haiti workshop on October 26 will look at this Haitian specialty, made from organic sugar cane using wild fermentation and traditional distillation methods. 

On October 27, participants in the Taste Workshop A Thousand Ways to Say Manioc will learn about the history, evolution and incredible versatility of manioc, the third most important source of carbohydrates in the tropical diet. Then on October 28, the Raw Milk Cheeses From the World’s Pastures workshop will unite small-scale cheese makers from Brazil who have united in a movement in support of raw-milk cheese production. Particular attention is devoted to the production of raw-milk cheeses in hot climates in a conference on Thursday October 25 entitled Raw Milk in the Tropics: A Challenge that will bring together producers from Brazil as well as Burkina Faso and South Africa.

The Dinner Date Europe Meets Latin America on Sunday October 28 will pay tribute to the Terra Madre food communities of Latin America: three-Michelin-starred chef Massimo Bottura will symbolically unite the Global North and South in a dinner prepared together with chefs Roberta Sudbrack (Brazil), Carlos Garcia (Venezuela), Gaston Acurio (Peru), Matias Perdomo (Uruguay) and Enrique Olvera (Mexico). Read the interview to the ‘Ambassador of regional Mexican cuisine’, chef Enrique Olvera: http://bit.ly/PqKgyK

The Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre is also an important platform to address issues that affect consumers and producers in Latin America and around the world. Raul Hernandez Garciadiego of Slow Food in Mexico and founder of the Museo del Agua, an initiative to raise awareness on the sustainable use of water, will be talking in a conference dedicated to this precious resource and the problems that are affecting his country. In the conference Animal Welfare: A Win-Win Opportunity For Animals, Farmers and Consumers, animal behaviour expert Mateus Paranhos Da Costa, professor at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil, will be talking about the important links between animal welfare, sustainable livestock sector development, farmers and consumers interest. Finally, from Cuba, José Antonio Lama will bring his experience with schools gardens to the conference Meet the Garden Teachers, where teachers from around the world involved in food education in schools will share experiences.

A special section of the Latin American area is dedicated to education through the exhibition Expo Movil, an initiative supported by the Ford Foundation, that seeks to demonstrate innovative ways to promote traditional products and local gastronomy from Latin America, Europe and North Africa as well as helping to improve market access to small-scale producers and consumer education. Visitors can learn more about products from these continents and the projects supporting them as well as the territories involved, their food heritage and local gastronomy.

Further information:

Read an interview to Josenaide de Souza Alves, coordinator of the Brazilian Licuri Slow Food Presidium, who will be present at the event: http://bit.ly/TtRyCY

Learn more about the phenomenon of deforestation and the devastating impact on the Amazon forest and the Earth’s biodiversity: http://bit.ly/PzAE7M

Details of the program and entrance tickets are available here:  http://salonedelgustoterramadre.slowfood.com/

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