In April 2004 I received an email from Slow Food® Italy requesting me to attend (all expenses paid) a World Meeting of Food Communities in Turin, Italy with about 5,000 small-scale food producers from about 130 countries. It seemed too good to be true. The only hitch was that coming from a “northern” (first world) country I was requested to arrange my own airfare – preferably from a local sponsor.
I would request one of our best customers to pay the $1000+ airfare. Martin Kouprie at Pangaea Restaurant was the first one I asked. Without a moment’s hesitation he replied, “Of course I will!” Education of staff is an important part of his agenda; and he considers key suppliers part of his staff. Thank you Martin and Peter for flying me to Turin!
The idea for this conference came from Carlo Petrini (the founder of Slow Food) in 2003 when he considered that of the 140,000 people expected to attend the 2004 Salon del Gusto (a celebration of locally grown foods around the world), virtually none of these guests would be the food producers. (It was too expensive.) So he convinced the Italian, Piedmont and Turin governments to contribute over $4 million to make it happen.
The bus from Milan Airport into Turin took us through all the construction for the 2006 Winter Olympics. Our conference was held in the huge (3 football fields) Hall of Labour. It was incredibly colourful as many of the Andean, African, Lapland, Indian, Amazon, Kazakhstan, and Nomadic food producers wore their traditional dress.
The plenary sessions with all 5000 delegates included speeches by many of the big names in alternative world-food with simultaneous translations in seven languages. Vandana Shiva gave a stirring speech about her tremendous work in really helping alleviate hunger in third-world countries; and calling attention to all the “cheap industrial food” killing the first-world nations with obesity, diabetes, and hypertension. Alice Waters (now Vice-President of Slow Food International with 80,000 members in 750 Convivia in 104 countries) spoke about the need to transmit cultural traditions at family mealtimes. Winona La Duke from the Dineh First Nation gave an impassioned speech that all life forms belong to the creator – not the corporations. A highlight for many of us was Prince Charles. He spoke from the heart about the importance of small farmers guarding bio-diversity and maintaining local organic foods to eliminate poverty and strife.
But the highlight of the conference was the workshops:
Forgotten Cereal Crops,
Pest Management Using Other Creatures,
Sustainable Fish Farming,
Globalization vs. Tourism,
Quality as a Solution to the Looming Coffee Crisis,
Saving the Traditions of Dairy and Cheesemaking,
Salt for Preserving Food and the Environment,
Oil Seeds – Ancient Culture and New Technology,
Alternative Meats – Sustainable Traditions,
Defending and Promoting Traditional Beers, etc., etc.
Workshops I chose to attend were:
Buried Treasures was about some of the amazing root vegetables that have not yet made it into the world market. The world’s most prolific and innovative plant breeders, the South American Incas, developed many of these. (They brought us Potatoes, Tomatoes, Squash, Beans, and more.) Yacon, related to the Dahlia (which we already grow), can be eaten raw for its melon-like flavour with pear-like texture. I spoke enough Spanish to learn from the Andean farmers how to grow it. Aracacha is a “white carrot” which grows by runners and tastes like a “vegetable stew”. (It has become an important crop in Brazil.) Papalisa and Oka are other cool weather root vegetables that I would love to try growing. The biggest problem will be importing the roots for seed. Another interesting product is Chuno or freeze-dried potatoes.
Presenters from Africa described an assortment of root vegetables such as Manioc, Yam, Sweet Potato, Cassava, and Taro (all of which are readily available in Toronto). They talked about fascinating heritage roots quickly vanishing as their forests disappear. I tried speaking with some of the producers, but their English or French are so fast and accented I unfortunately understood very little.
Seed Resources confirmed that farmers all over the world are having more and more problems obtaining and maintaining seeds. Saskatchewan farmer Percy Schmeiser updated us about his celebrated conflict with Monsanto over GMO canola seeds. (He had just lost his battle in the Canadian Supreme Court -- 5 to 4 (but without having to pay the $400,000 costs). However, his wife may win the war with her suit against Monsanto for $120 to pay for a crew to handpick GMO volunteer canola from her garden. She is actually winning this case as it works its way through the courts. Kent Whealy of Seed Savers Exchange in the U.S. described the extensive work his organization and similar ones around the world are doing to halt extinction. (95% of the vegetables listed in American Seed Catalogues 100 years ago are now probably extinct.)
I was talking with the man sitting next to me who introduced himself as Rob Johnston. I replied, “You must be Johnny?” “Yep”, he retorted. Johnny’s is one of Cookstown Greens more important seed suppliers. We had a great discussion about seed varieties that are important to us (and our chefs) which are no longer available. This direct connection has already allowed us to circumvent restrictions that multi-national corporate policies forbid certain sales in Canada. (It’s getting very weird out there!)
Healing the Land was an absolutely amazing workshop about microorganisms in the soil. It started with an Italian Agronomist speaking about improvements in flavour and nutrition when soil microorganisms are fed. (He later confirmed with me that the plow-down crops we are using (with virtually no University or Government advice), is right on track with their extensive research.) A Cuban Professor related his experiences after being forced to become “organic” after the Russians pulled out. Yields rose and public health improved dramatically. A similar story came from a Tamil Indian Ag-Rep who told about his local farmers greatly benefiting from “Green Revolution Rice” in the 1970’s. But now the chemical fertilizers and pesticides no longer work and farmers are going broke. By feeding the soil organisms, using nearly forgotten techniques, they are once again surviving.
The most amazing presentation was from Zimbabwe. Their lush prairie has been quickly turning into a sparse dessert. Experts have been blaming it on over-grazing by cattle. But Allan Savory noticed the same problem was occurring on the Wildlife Refuges he was monitoring. He determined that the problem was not too many cattle; it was not enough predators to keep the grazing herds in tight groups. By intensive pasturing (using electric fences as a “predator”), he has been able to increase livestock production ten-fold and return a steady supply of safe water. He has replicated this throughout Africa, Russia, China, Mid East, Mexico, and the U.S.
Gastronomy was the workshop given by chefs and restaurateurs who actively support local ingredients and traditional cuisines. They came from Moscow, Swaziland, and Copenhagen. Name Chefs present were Alberto Adria from El Bulli in Spain, Rick Bayless from Chicago, John Bishop from Vancouver, our own Jamie Kennedy, and Martin Ritins now a leading chef/restaurateur in Riga, Latvia. (He was one our good customers in Toronto 12 years ago; until he packed up everything to settle down in his “new” country.)
Another highlight was seeing friends from all over North America who were all instrumental in laying the groundwork for establishing Cookstown Greens. Herb Barbolet at Vancouver’s Farmfolk-Cityfolk, Nancy Turner the ethnobotanist at University of Victoria, and Sinclair Phillip with his amazing culinary gardens at Sooke Harbour House were all there.
From California I got to see Tom and Denesse Willey who gave me so many “secrets” about post-harvest handling and packging techniques before we started 18 years ago. I also saw Nigel Walker, the leading producer of multi-coloured heirloom tomatoes for the Bay Area. We took the opportunity to compare notes on growing even better tomatoes. It was also good to see Rick Knoll and Doug Gosling who have persevere in introducing many “new” crops to Bay Area chefs. Speaking of chefs it was good to once again connect with Deborah Madison (who is now promoting Farmers’ Markets), and Alice Waters (who as much as anyone got me to consider farming as a career). And Michael Abelman (who now lives on Salt Spring Island) was there to share his eloquent determination to share superior food.
From the East Coast of Maine I had a chance to visit with Eliot Coleman (the guru for medium-scale organic vegetable producers), and Jim Garritsen (who knows all about specialty potatoes.)
On the last day our counterpart growers – Pierre Andre Daignault from Montreal and Heather Pritchard from Vancouver – rented a car to visit small farms in the Piedmont region and see the center of Slow Food in Bra. It was great to share a great day!
The conference also provided delegate housing. Most stayed in Agri-tourismos which are a big step up from our simple Bed and Breakfasts. They are usually on heritage farms and provide 2-3 meals using nearly all the ingredients directly from the farm or the neighbourhood. They have become very very popular in Italy and throughout Europe as they really help tourists experience where they are. Nearly 100 busses drove delegates to their housing each evening. Many delegates told me of rousing welcomes by the townspeople with food and wine and dance every night.
While at the conference I volunteered to help with the Canadian Red Fife bread tasting at Slow Food’s enormous food show, Salon del Gusto. Red Fife was the Canadian wheat variety that made Parisian bread famous around the world. In the 1920’s more productive (and less flavourful) varieties based made this flavourful jewel “obsolete” and nearly extinct. We gave out thousands of samples and sold hundreds of loaves to very admiring customers at €12 ($18) each! Chicago chef Rick Bayless thoughtfully pronounced, “This wheat makes the best bread in the World!”
At the absolutely amazing Salon del Gusto, I spoke with farmers about growing tiny Alpine Strawberries and big Black Turnips, tasty long Cowpeas, and aromatic Lavender.
