The Slow Food Youth Network in PR

Greetings Slow Food Boricua ( SFB ) members:

  SFB and the Slow Food Youth Network ( SFYN) have collaborated on ways to bring more opportunities for young Puerto Ricans to the global market. On Nov. 11 2014, SFB member Camille Collazo had a one on one conversation with SFYN member, Francesco Scaglia; on the possibilities of our union. Here's a brief summary of their conversation.  

http://www.slowfood.com/international/156/slow-food-youth-network?-session=query_session:18E3092E1aeea3935Ejs5F28EA4A

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From: Camille Collazo
Date: Tue, Nov 11, 2014 at 11:26 PM
Subject: Francesco Meeting Brief (Slow Food Youth Network)
To: Bartus Allen ,

Dear Bartus,

The meeting with Francesco was really great. We introduced ourselves and spoke about our current projects. On my behalf I briefly explained RICO, mentioned the organizations in Puerto Rico that work for farmers and on food policy, plus an overall feel of our island situation with healthy food production. I explained my motivations for working with Slow Food Network and he explained the programs and activities they are working on. Here are some examples:
The 6 Months Academy
How to Connect the Countryside and the City
Online Meet up/Hangout for farmers and citizens
Disco Soups to fight food waste

The major motivation for the Slow Food Youth Network is to raise awareness about food issues in a smart fun way so that young people 20–30's will be inspired to participate and be advocates for change.

Also, how to facilitate exchange of knowledge with international campaigns made by young food activists.

He will send me some guidelines with more information, but as he told me, after Terra Madre they want to update the content. Also we'll work on event brainstorming to start ideas on how to introduce Slow Food Youth Network in Puerto Rico.

Thank you Bartus!

Camille Collazo
Rico, Executive Director

Terra Madre & Salone del Gusto 2014 by Madelaine Vazquez

By:Madelaine Vazquez of Slow Food Cuba

Slow Food concluye una exitosa edición 2014 del Salone del Gusto y Terra Madre

Slow Food ha cerrado las puertas del Salone del Gusto y Terra Madre 2014, evento bienal que este año ha recibido a alrededor de 220.000 visitantes y a 400 periodistas de 63 países (excluyendo la prensa italiana). Gentes procedentes de todo el mundo, por otra parte, han renovado la emoción de ver cientos de nuevos productos alimentarios tradicionales catalogados para su protección en el proyecto del Arca del Gusto. En este sentido la BBC ha realizado 100 entrevistas relacionadas con productos del Arca del Gusto de alrededor de 50 países, permitiendo de esta forma que productores de pequeña escala pudieran relatar extraordinarias historias relacionadas con su producto.

Carlo Petrini, fundador y presidente de Slow Food, manifestó que el Salone del Gusto y Terra Madre se ha convertido en el mayor y más importante acontecimiento dedicado a temas de la alimentación a nivel global: «He aquí la red de Terra Madre, una red compuesta por personas de carne y hueso, con su pasión y sus saberes tradicionales. Slow Food es el filamento de la red y las comunidades son sus nudos. Después de estos cinco días increíbles, esta red de personas físicas no debe olvidar el uso del mundo virtual y las herramientas que ofrecen las modernas tecnologías para seguir en contacto, distribuir información y fortalecer la unión entre miles y miles de comunidades del alimento de todo el mundo».

Paolo Di Croce, secretario general de Slow Food Internacional, expresó su agradecimiento a los socios de Slow Food de todo el mundo, que han trabajado con ímpetu para que delegados de más de 160 países con sus productos pudieran unirse al acontecimiento: «La energía y la pasión que han desplegado nuestros delegados, socios y líderes locales, para hacer de esta edición la mejor de todas hasta el momento, ha sido en verdad admirable. No puedo dejar de agradecerselo a todos ellos en nombre del Consejo Internacional de Slow Food y de expresar mi deseo de renovar nuestro compromiso. Los temas centro de atención principal de esta edición del Salone del Gusto y Terra Madre –la protección de la biodiversidad alimentaria y la agricultura familiar- son retos a los que hoy se enfrenta el mundo y Slow Food continuará trabajando para ello con renovados entusiasmo y energía.»

Algunas de las comunidades del alimento agotaron sus productos por completo: bananas de Uganda; dos Baluartes Slow Food de la vainilla (Vainilla Chinantla de México y Vainilla Mananara de Madagascar); Yerba Mate de Paraguay; Baluarte de la Pasta Katta de Tombuctú y Gao, de Malí; Dátiles de Oasis de Marruecos y de Libia; Baluarte del Cardamomo Ixcán de Guatemala; Hyvar de los Balcanes; Cacao Nacional de Ecuador y las Pasas Herat Abjosh Raisin <http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/presidia/details/191/herat-abjosh-raisin>  de Afganistán.

La impresión general proporcionada por productores y visitantes ha sido de felicidad por los resultados del evento.
Los visitantes han mostrado un gran interés por las áreas del mercado italiano e internacional, pero asimismo por los temas que afectan hoy al sistema alimentario, debatidos en un programa compuesto de conferencias, talleres, actividades educativas y sesiones de escuela de cocina. Slow Food muestra su satisfacción al comprobar un mayor interés por los aspectos prácticos de la gastronomía. Los asistentes transcurrieron en el evento más tiempo que en años anteriores y casi todos los Laboratorios del Gusto y sesiones en la Escuela de Cocina se desarrollaron llenos por completo.
También han despertado gran interés el material didáctico y las actividades educativas, como demuestra elaumento de un 40% en las ventas de libros de la editora de Slow Food respecto de la anterior edición.Ha aumentado igualmente la afiliación a Slow Food, con un 35% de los nuevos socios jóvenes, lo que confirma el interés de las nuevas generaciones por los temas actuales relacionados con la alimentación. Una muy buena señal, al constatar en especial el gran volumen de solicitudes de materiales por parte de profesores de instituciones educativas de todo el mundo.
El acontecimiento se desarrolló de manera excelente gracias a la ayuda de una gran cantidad de voluntarios, organismos legales, socios de Slow Food, Cruz Roja, expositores y proveedores.

Para más información contacten con:
℅ Slow Food Paola Nano, +39 329 8321285 p.nano@slowfood.it Sharon Aknin, +39 3274737220s.aknin@slowfood.it
c/o Regione Piemonte: Tel. +39 011 4322549 donatella.actis@regione.piemonte.it
c/o Comune di Torino: Tel. +39 011 4423605 gianni.ferrero@comune.torino.it

Slow Food Concludes a Successful 2014 Edition of Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre

Slow Food closes the doors of this year’s Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2014 event, which saw the attendance of 220,000 visitors, as well as 400 journalists from 63 countries (not considering the Italian press). In addition, people from around the world renewed the excitement of cataloguing their traditional food products for protection by nominating hundreds of new products for the Ark of Taste project. The BBC dedicated 100 interviews to Ark of Taste products from around 50 countries, which allowed the small-scale producers to tell the extraordinary stories related to their product.
Carlo Petrini, founder and president of Slow Food, said that Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre has become the largest and most important event dedicated to food-related topics on a global level: «This is the Terra Madre network, a network that consists of people made of flesh and blood, along with their passions and traditional knowledge. Slow Food is the thread of the network and the communities are its nodes. After these five amazing days, this network of physical people should never forget to use the virtual world and all the tools that modern technologies offer to stay in contact, distribute information and to strengthen the union between thousands and thousands of food communities around the world.»

Paolo Di Croce, General Secretary of Slow Food International expressed his thanks to all Slow Food members around the world, who worked with passion to enable delegates and their products from over 160 countries to join in this event: «The energy and passion that our delegates, members and local leaders spent to make this the best edition of the event so far is admirable. I cannot refrain myself from thanking everyone on behalf of the Slow Food International Council and I wish to renew our commitment. The topics that were at the center of attention during this edition of Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre - the protection of food biodiversity and family farming - are the real challenges that the world is currently facing and Slow Food will continue to work on these fronts with renewed enthusiasm and energy.»
The overall impression received from producers and visitors is that they were very happy with the outcome of the event.

Some of the food communities have completely sold out their products: Bananas from Uganda, two Slow Food Presidia for Vanilla (Chinantla Vanilla from Mexico and Mananara Vanilla from Madagascar), Mate herb from Paraguay, Timbuktu and Gao Katta Pasta <http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/presidia/details/4450/timbuktu-and-gao-katta-pasta>  Presidium from Mali, oasis dates from Morocco and Libya, Ixcán Cardamom <http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/presidia/details/1576/ixc-n-cardamom>  Presidium from Guatemala, hyvar from the Balkans, Nacional Cacao from Ecuador, and the Herat Abjosh Raisin <http://www.slowfoodfoundation.com/presidia/details/191/herat-abjosh-raisin>  from Afghanistan. 
Visitors showed a great interest in the Italian and international market areas, but also in the hot topics affecting the current food system that were discussed in a diverse program consisting of conferences, workshops, educational activities, and cooking school sessions. Slow Food was happy to see an increasedinterest in the practical aspects of gastronomy. The visitors who attended spent more time at the event than previous years and almost all Taste Workshops and Cooking School sessions were completely booked out. 
Interest was also high in the didactic material and educational activities, which was highlighted by a 40% increase in book sales from the Slow Food publishing house as compared to the last edition of the event. Membership for Slow Food has also increased, where 35% of the new members consist of youth, which confirms that young generations are interested in food-related hot topics. This is a very good sign, especially with the high volume of request for material from teachers from educational institutions around the world.
The event went very smoothly thanks to the help of many volunteers, various law enforcement departments, Slow Food members, public institutions, the Red Cross, exhibitors and suppliers.

For further information, please contact:
℅ Slow Food Paola Nano, +39 329 8321285 p.nano@slowfood.it Sharon Aknin, +39 3274737220s.aknin@slowfood.it
c/o Regione Piemonte: Tel. +39 011 4322549 donatella.actis@regione.piemonte.it
c/o Comune di Torino: Tel. +39 011 4423605 gianni.ferrero@comune.torino.it

Organized by Slow Food, the region of Piedmont and the city of Turin in collaboration with the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, the international Salone del Gusto event is coming back to Turin, Italy, this year in its 10th edition. Dedicated to the world of food, Salone del Gusto is once more united into a single event with the international meeting of Terra Madre, the network of small-scale producers from around the world, which is now in its 10th year. Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2014 will be held from October 23-27 in Turin’s trade fair Centre Lingotto Fiere and see the presence of over 1000 exhibitors from 130 countries.