Cheat’s Tarts with Various Fillings

I'M just back from the 2012 edition of the international Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre, Slow Food’s biannual event which brings together small-scale farmers, artisan producers, fishermen, experts, academics, chefs and young people from over 160 countries.

It’s a mind blowing event and an increasingly important forum of exchange between producers, consumers and experts on a variety of food issues including biodiversity, food waste, animal welfare, seed saving and patenting of seed, edible education, school gardens and land grabbing.

The opening speech was given by the Director-General of the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), José Graziano da Silva. He emphasised the close links between Slow Food and the FAO, with a focus on the problem of hunger in the world. He identified food waste as a crucial problem. “If we managed to cut total food loss and waste by half we would have enough food to feed one billion more people,” he said. Da Silva’s message was clear: “With hunger, the only number acceptable is zero.” A series of speakers then took their turn on stage, bringing stories from every corner of the globe and inspiring both outrage and hope with their experiences. Their stories were recounted through the “words of Terra Madre”, key themes that define the Slow Food movement’s primary concerns.