crazysalad

America Unchained

Think about where you spend your money. 

It makes a difference. 

When you buy food, books, or toys, do you go to a local merchant or a big box store? 

When you buy from a locally-owned business, that money stays in your community and gets recirculated three-and-a-half times more than if you bought from a chain store.  That means you are helping your friends, your neighbors, your local farmers stay in business and live in your community. 

I like buying locally because I like supporting my local economy, but the best part is that I get to talk to people who care about what they are doing.  At the locally-owned  bookstores where I shop, the clerks there actually read the books they are selling and can recommend something they think I will like.  When I visit my favorite restaurant, I get a hug from the hostess and the chef comes out to say hi to me and my kids.  At the farmers’ market, Barry from La Milpa Organica tells me that he just saw my mom at his stand at an hour ago.  While he scoops up a bag of his salad mix (the best in San Diego), he tells me about the corn harvest festival he hosted at his farm last week.

Today, for at least one day, free yourself from the American corporate chains.  Better yet, this holiday season, give thanks and support to your local independent businesses by buying from them.  (Thanks to Jeff Mariotte for this link.)

Chain, chain, chain, chain, chain, chain
Chain, chain, chain, chain of fools
... I found out I'm just a link in your chain
You got me where you want me
I ain't nothing but your fool
You treated me mean oh you treated me cruel
Chain, chain, chain, chain of fools
© Don Covay (1967)

For more info on the real cost of the mega-retailers, see Stacy Mitchell’s book, Big Box Swindle, and check out the film, Independent America: The Two-Lane Search for Mom & Pop.

Terra Madre Workshops

“Biodiversity can be seen as a life insurance policy for life itself-- something especially needed in this time of fast-paced global change.”—Kofi Annan

The first full day at Terra Madre featured 15 workshops spread out over 3 time periods (10 am, 1 pm, 3pm).  Workshops were divided into categories such as economics/market access, products and producers, agro-ecology, resources, cultures, and strategies.  There were also regional meetings, where all the delegates from one country gathered together in one room (more on the U.S. meeting to follow in a later post). 

Practically speaking, for each time slot one was forced to choose among 5 different workshops and topics, a daunting decision.  Friday morning, for example, offered the following:

1. “More than consumers: the power of co-producers.  The buyer’s role is much more active than what the word consumer suggests.  The final link in the food chain has its place in production, education, markets and the environment.  Farmers’ markets, buyers’ groups, community-supported agriculture and many other initiatives demonstrate that eating is an agricultural act, producing a gastronomical act and purchasing a political act.”

2. “Cheese: The importance of raw milk, the significance of animal feed and the quality of milk, the defense of traditional techniques and market access for small-scale producers: what can be done to preserve the dairy artisan heritage?”

3. “Fresh and cured meats: Breeders, slaughterhouses and butchers, processing companies and cooks.  Many different skills and factors contribute to the quality of fresh and cured meats, from animal feed to the cut to curing techniques.”

However, the brief descriptions in the program didn’t list any of the speakers and, as much as I love cheese, I was reluctant to give up two hours of my time for a discussion comparing animal feeds.  I finally hit upon the strategy of wandering from room to room with my headset on (picking up the voices of the translators broadcasting in the back of each room).  If the speakers caught my interest, I sat down and stayed.  If not, I moved on to the next workshop.  A rather arbitrary approach, but one that proved surprisingly effective.   Many of the workshops I thought I would be interesting (i.e., that I had highlighted in my program) turned out to be disappointing, while the ones I wandered into ended up being the ones I enjoyed the most. 

Terra Madre 2006 Opening Day

Terra Madre 2006 officially opened on Thursday, October 26, with a parade of nations, one representative from each country bearing his or her flag.

The event recalled the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics, which Torino hosted earlier this year.  The representatives marched in alphabetical order and took their seat on the main stage facing the audience.

Once all of the national representatives had been seated, the speeches began.  Everyone in the audience had been given headsets, so simultaneous translation was available in several languages (English, Italian, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese).

Salone del Gusto 2006

I came to Italy this year to participate both in Slow Food’s Terra Made and Salone del Gusto.  Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, Salone del Gusto is a international fair held in Torino every 2 years to celebrate the diversity and quality of food, an eco-gastronomic response to the standardization and globalization of our food system.

Well, ok, I have to confess.  Mostly I came to eat. And speak Italian.  And to travel around Italy for a week with friends afterwards.  But it was because of the Salone del Gusto that I came here.  I've been wanting to come for years, ever since I first heard about this amazing global food fair.

Salone del Gusto runs for 4 days and attracts tens of thousands of people, including large groups of schoolkids. The event is held in the Lingotto, the former Fiat factory turned convention center.  It’s a food lover’s dream come true.  Imagine an entire convention center filled with table after table displaying the food of farmers and producers from all over Italy and the rest of the world.