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Projects
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Terra Madre
Nederland |
The
Netherland’s first Terra
Madre meeting
was held over the
weekend of
May 17 and 18,
2008 at the ancient
Abbey of Middelburg,
in the province of
Zeeland. Farmers,
fishers, market
gardeners, butchers,
bakers, beekeepers,
Dutch winemakers,
brewers and other
producers came together
for the two-day market
that was held under the
chestnut trees in the
beautiful central
square. A big tent was
set up to accommodate
the restaurant where a
group of chefs
volunteered to work with
the ingredients that
were presented in the
Terra Madre market.
The cloister, one of the
oldest parts of the
abbey, was the venue for
21 workshops and two
symposia on important
issues. The first
discussion concerned the
future of Taste
Education in the
Netherlands, and the
second symposium
examined legislation and
regulations on hygiene,
especially in relation
to small-scale
production.
This event, organized
with substantial support
from the Dutch Ministry
of Agriculture and the
provincial government of
Zeeland, was a great
success and attracted a
lot of press coverage.
Even on the wet and cold
Saturday many people
visited the market,
chatting with the
producers and buying
their products.
Producers were
interchanging ideas all
the time and we are
certain that it was a
great boost for the
Dutch Terra Madre
network. The producers,
stimulated by seeing
recognition for all
their hard work, have
already booked for the
next Terra Madre in The
Netherlands, to be held
in the autumn of 2009.
In the meantime we all
hope to meet the
international community
during Terra Madre 2008
in Turin.
Jan Wolf
President Slow Food
Nederland
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Cultivating good
sense |
Honoring and building on
his parents’ experience,
Frank Verhoeven founded
Boeren Verstand (Common
Sense) – a company
giving advice in the
area of sustainable
agriculture and
providing input into
decision processes
between government,
scientific and farming
communities. The name
refers to the famous
common sense of
traditional farmers.
This good sense and the
farmers themselves are
the starting point for
Frank’s work, which aims
to operate from the
bottom up through
research, promotion and
communication of their
knowledge.
‘We went looking for
innovative agricultural
practices in the
Netherlands and are
trying to make them more
widely known through
publications and other
means. For example, the
book Samen Werken
(Working Together)
presents the results of
farmers’ working groups
—thematic based groups
who are studying,
exchanging and striving
to enrich local
knowledge’.
To promote regional
production by small
producers, Frank has
also created de Boeren
Box, a package of
various local products
according to the region
where it is sold. So far
seven different boxes
have been made up for
seven different Dutch
regions and others will
soon be available. Each
box also contains a list
of local farms and
suppliers’ brochures,
presenting a network of
local food producers and
thus encouraging
supermarket customers
(where the boxes are
sold) to become
co-producers.
Frank had the chance to
share his experiences
and knowledge with other
small farmers at Terra
Madre Nederland.
For further information:
Frank Verhoeven
frank@boerenverstand.org
Focus on...
Water: a vital resource
Covering two-thirds of
our planet, water is an
element upon which all
forms of life depend.
Just 2.5% of this is
fresh water and only 1%
is found in lakes,
rivers or reservoirs.
Although it is a
renewable resource,
water availability is a
serious problem around
the world. The
geographical
distribution of water
resources is quite
uneven and continually
increasing demand may
create problems in
providing adequate world
supplies in the future.
For this reason, water
is a strategic resource
with a direct effect on
health and biodiversity.
The ‘water crisis’
spoken about today is
largely due to poor
resource management
rather than insufficient
stocks.
Agriculture uses about
70% of water resources
for irrigation, of which
15-35% is not
sustainable. In some
parts of the world,
irrigation is necessary
to grow any crop and
thus to feed the
population, while in
other areas water is
used for crops that
produce the most profit.
In every area of use
(agriculture, industry,
domestic consumption) it
is possible to reduce
water wastage.
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How much water
do you consume?
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The University of Twente,
in the Netherlands, has
created a novel online
calculator for water
www.waterfootprint.org
- able to calculate the
impact of individuals
and countries on global
water reserves. The site
brings to attention all
the water we consume
without realizing it.
For instance, you can
discover that a single
cup of coffee requires
140 liters of water: the
water required for the
cultivation and
processing of the coffee
beans. A kilo of beef
needs 16,000 liters of
water: not just the
water drunk by cattle
but in particular the
water for growing,
harvesting and
processing cereals and
feeds.
And so on: an apple - 70
liters; a glass of beer
- 75 liters; a slice of
bread - 40 liters; one
kilo of cheese - 5000
liters; a kilo of
chicken - 3900 liters.
At
www.waterfootprint.org
you can calculate the
average annual
consumption per capita
for different countries.
You can also use the
Individual Water
Footprint Calculator to
discover how much water
you use, taking into
consideration your
personal habits and
other lifestyle factors:
where you live, your
income, diet, etc.
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Expo Zaragoza
2008:
water and
sustainable
development
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Expo Zaragoza 2008
is presenting the
largest event ever
organized on the topic
of water and
sustainability. Held
over June 14 – September
14, this 93-day-long
Expo will feature
various water-related
issues each week, which
scientists, experts,
politicians,
legislators, artists and
writers will consider
and discuss from their
different perspectives.
La tribuna del Agua,
conceived as a centre
for learning, discussion
and sharing ideas, is
planned around four main
themes: water, a unique
resource; water for
life; water and land;
water, a means for
people to interact. The
scale of this event is
impressive: 32 000
participants from 102
countries and 2000
experts from around the
world will take part.
Slow Food will attend
this important event.
Thanks to the efforts of
the Slow Food Zaragoza
convivium, the Terra
Madre project will be
presented on the morning
of July 4 and its
guidelines for producing
sustainable food will be
described, including the
vital factor of water.
This meeting will
conclude with an organic
lunch, with those
invited including 250
Spanish mayors
For further information:
Jorge Hernandez
Leader of the Saragoza
Convivium
zaragozaslowfood@telefonica.net
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Slow Food
key words |
Salone del Gusto and
Terra Madre:
a new type of fair
Slow Food has set out to
apply a systematic
vision to its events,
head office,
organizational
structures and Presidia,
aiming to consistently
adhere to the principles
underpinning the Slow
Food manifesto ‘Good,
Clean and Fair’.
The 2008 edition of the
International Salone del
Gusto
and Terra Madre is part
of this ongoing process
and aims to achieve a
fair with low
environmental impact,
which reduces the use of
non-renewable resources
and recovers ‘waste’
material.
The project aims to
progressively reduce the
environmental impact of
the International Salone
del Gusto and Terra
Madre (as well as other
events organized by Slow
Food), by promoting new
sustainable consumption
patterns and managing
outputs (waste) at the
local level. Areas
involved include fair
set-up, waste
production, packaging,
materials for consuming
food, the logistics of
transporting goods, CO2
emissions, mobility,
energy and water
resources.
Voices from
Terra Madre
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The
quote
‘When
an
African
dies
a
library
goes
with
her’
is
so
true
in
the
case
of
African
food
culture.
Oral
tradition
and
knowledge
is
lost
forever
when
a
cultivator
or a
cook
dies,
as
does
knowledge
of
the
plants
and
recipes
they
may
have
used.
We
need
to
improve
communications
among
food
communities
if
we
are
to
counter
this
loss
of
food
knowledge
in
Africa. |
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Sayed
Azam-Ali
Director
of
the
Tropical
Crops
Research
Unit
at
the
University
of
Nottingham,
United
Kingdom.
Sayed.Azam-ali@nottingham.ac.uk
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Food Traditions
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Nettles in the
hen house,
eggs in the
basket |
Gathering plants and
aromatic herbs for
culinary purposes,
spices, infusions or
homeopathic remedies has
always been a common
activity in the
mountains.
The virtues of each
particular herb and its
benefits for human
health, have for many
decades been a precious
resource recognized by
people living in
mountain areas and have
been passed down by oral
tradition through
proverbs and sayings
from generation to
generation.
In the region of Haute
Alpes in Provence,
France, it is not
unusual to treat
insomnia with nettle tea
or to hear expressions
such as ‘ nettles in the
hen house, eggs in the
basket’, referring to
the fact that feeding
hens with nettle seeds
is supposed to boost the
production of eggs.
Nettles feature in many
traditional recipes. The
plant’s virtues include
its high protein content
and providing seven
times the amount of
vitamins as oranges. It
can be dried and made
into a powder for use as
a condiment in meat
dishes; boiled to make
herbal teas or fried in
a little oil to make an
ideal condiment for
frittatas, soups and
salads.
Already used as a
medicinal plant by the
ancient Greeks, it has a
wide range of
properties, being
antidiabetic,
astringent, depurative,
diuretic, cardiotonic
and antianemic. Elderly
people still use it to
treat rheumatism due to
its effect of
stimulating blood
circulation. Organic
agriculture uses the
plant as a natural
pesticide and
fertilizer.
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TELL US ABOUT YOUR TRADITIONS!
Describe your community, your regional dishes and the occasions on which you eat them. We'll post the best entries in this section: communication@slowfood.com |
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