The Strength of South African Women will be Featured at Terra Madre Salone del Gusto

Three inspiring women from the Republic of South Africa will join us during Terra Madre Salone del Gusto in Turin, Italy from September 20 to 24, 2018.

Organized by Slow Food in collaboration with the Region of Piedmont and the City of Turin, the 12^th edition of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is the most important international event dedicated to food culture. 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 first name is that of Caroline McCann, International Councillor for Southern Africa and the main organizer of Slow Meat South Africa. She is very active on the theme of slow meat and, together with Arnold Tanzer, a chef from the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance, she is trying to educate people about responsible meat consumption. On attending Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, she 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 12^th edition and I am sure that, through exchange and dialogue with people who differ in culture, language, and customs, every one of us will return home richer and with new enthusiasm for pursuing our activities and striving for a better future for our planet.”

Thanks to the work of cooks, butchers, and breeders, South Africa is on the front line when it comes to supporting the Slow Meat campaign. Among the Taste Workshops presented within the Slow Meat thematic area will be The South African Recipe – From Nose to Tail (September 21 and 22 at 5:30 p.m.– Torino Lingotto Fiere). In this workshop, a South African chef from the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance will cook a series of offal dishes, teaching us how to use and make the most of every part of the animal.

Another great personality coming to Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2018 is Melissa de Billot, from Slow Food Johannesburg where she is the referent of the Zulu rainbow maize on board on the Ark of Taste. In a region where almost all the maize grown is GMO, Melissa is waging an important battle. She retrieved seeds of old varieties from those whom she calls the “original farmers” from KwaZulu-Natal province and distributed them to “custodians”, urban farmers living in the township of Soweto and Orange Farm, South Africa. This year, the first harvest took place. Within the Seeds thematic area, the Terra Madre Forum entitled Resisting GMOs (September 23 at 11:00 a.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere) will provide a space for producers and other citizens from different continents to share their experiences and propose alternative solutions.

Finally, another inspiring woman and another topic: food activist and indigenous food expert Catherine “Loubie” Rusch will address the issue of biodiversity preservation. After spending 30 years as a landscape designer, Loubie is now fully dedicated to local wild foods in the Cape Town area with her NPO Local WILD. She sees endemic local wild foods as a way to address connected challenges from a social and ecological perspective in an area, the Western Cape, where the local food landscape is being eroded by industrialization and globalization. Be sure to book a place in the Taste Workshop: South Africa: Ferment in Cape Town (September 21 at 2:30 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere) during which Lubie and Filippa Harrington, both members of the Slow Food Chefs’ Alliance, will present some of the vegetables and herbs that grow wild along the coast west of Cape Town for participants to taste. Here the two chefs will serve recipes using sandkool and veldkool, two perennial herbs recently rediscovered by local chefs and now listed on the Ark of Taste.

In addition to these three amazing women, Slow Food South Africa is made up of a network of food communities, supporters, producers, participants, activists, and volunteers that reflect the diversity of their country. Many other guests and events are scheduled and many more will be added, such as:

the Taste Workshop: From Hungary to South Africa: Meat preservation Techniques Compared – Au Naturel (September 21 at 2:30 p.m. – Torino Lingotto Fiere), where participants will enjoy two very different products: on the one hand, Hungarian Mangalica Sausage, promoted by a Slow Food Presidium; and on the other, Droëwors, South African-style dried beef flavored with spices from the Karoo region, produced by Federico Fiamozzi of Aneghe taneghe farm.

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.

Caroline Stephanie McCann – International Councillor for Southern Africa

 [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.