Terra Madre Salone Del Gusto 2020 Reloaded

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto will go ahead in 2020, with a new and profoundly different dimension in response to Covid-19. For six months starting from October 8, the event will involve the 160 countries of the Slow Food network through a mix of digital technology, diffuse physical events and innovative formats.

The most important event dedicated to good, clean and fair food, the environment and food politics organized by Slow Food, the Piedmont Region and the City of Turin will not be stopped, and reaffirms its commitments to shaping the future of food.

“Today more than ever we need to work to implement new and more sustainable economic, environmental and social paradigms. To transform the food crisis sparked by Covid-19 into an opportunity for the revitalization of the earth, starting with forms of agriculture, hospitality and tourism which generate well-being for local areas and communities. Once again we aim to do this by lending our voice to the communities that have mobilized across the world to support small-scale food producers over recent months, keeping local food systems alive and protecting the most vulnerable Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is not a trade fair which can be postponed from one year to the next: it’s an opportunity for education and dialog. It’s where a great network of farmers, herders, fishers, food artisans, cooks, youth, indigenous peoples and migrants gain confidence and courage, where they can share ideas and solutions to common problems. And if, in compliance with safety regulations imposed by the pandemic, our delegates will not be able to come to Terra Madre, then we’ll bring Terra Madre to every corner of the planet,” declares Edie Mukiibi, Vice President of Slow Food International, introducing the new project for Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2020.

A completely redesigned event, starting with some key points and goals:

• The future of food. To drive a broad debate starting with the Slow Food vision, thanks to the contributions of producers, researchers, experts and scholars, because it’s never been more important to think about good, clean and fair food for all: to understand the causes of the pandemic, initiate change and make society fairer and more sustainable, and build a better future than the one predicted before Covid-19 arrived.
• The Slow Food and Terra Madre network. To capitalize on its strengths, its projects and its people—the commitment of a million activists in 160 countries—to influence the daily behavior of people around the world.
• New geographies. To confirm the theme already chosen for the 2020 edition: in this historic period of souverainism, nationalism, walls and barbed wire, Slow Food proposes a new vision which speaks of roots rather than barriers, of cultures rather than nations; food without political borders but with deep roots in the areas it’s produced.
• A new event. Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2020 begins a digital revolution that will, over a six month period, offer opportunities for exchange and dialog among network delegates and the general public regarding new models of food production and distribution.

The 2020 edition of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto begins on Thursday October 8, and during the following four days, as originally planned, will develop a rich program of digital and physical events that unite the thousands of nodes of the Slow Food network and its million activists, as well as many other organizations, institutions and businesses.

The event will continue over the following months with an extraordinary calendar of initiatives across 160 countries that interpret the themes and respond to the challenges for the future of food, the planet and all its inhabitants.

In line with the evolution of measures to contain Covid-19, the possibility of international travel and events involving a global audience, the marathon of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2020 will return to Turin, having crossed every continent, and conclude in April 2021 with the celebration of the Slow Food International Congress.

“It will be the largest ever edition: in terms of the number of countries involved, of participants in events both online and offline, of ‘actions for change’ put in place by hundreds of thousands of activists all over the world. After six months we will be deeply changed: we’ll have learned much more about our potential and we will have become more influential actors on the future of food worldwide. Turin and Piedmont will be the heart of this sweet revolution: a wide array of ideas and initiatives will be proposed from the center; and the energy generated by these initiatives will then return and enrich the center. We’re entering a new dimension for Slow Food and Terra Madre, and we aim to transform the tragedy of the pandemic into the greatest push for change in our history,” concludes Paolo Di Croce, General Secretary of Slow Food International.

“There are events which are symbolic for the region where they started, but which become a collective heritage that go beyond any geographic boundaries. Terra Madre Salone del Gusto has long been an example,” as the President of the Piedmont Region Alberto Cirio puts it, together with the Assessor for Commerce, Culture and Tourism Vittoria Poggio, and the Assessor for Agriculture and Food, Marco Protopapa. “We’re committed to protecting and promoting this heritage at this complex time for everyone. The future sprouts from the land. And we want it to be a future we can share safely, together.”

The Mayor of Turin, Chiara Appendino and the Assessor for Tourism Alberto Sacco have expressed their satisfaction that not only will Terra Madre Salone del Gusto go ahead, but that thanks to its new organizational model, it will put Turin at the center of an even wider and more inclusive edition, both in terms of both time and geography. “Through these diffuse projects and digital activities the event will help to capture people’s attention and raise awareness of food politics and food education, restore the value of food and promote its sensory qualities and authenticity, teaching us to pay better attention to the production methods of what we eat every day. The new model for Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is an innovative choice in a moment of objective difficulty for big events as we traditionally think of them, and allows us to transform an obstacle into an opportunity, and widen the scope of the event.”

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