Six months of digital, physical, and widespread events dedicated to good, clean, and fair food, the environment, and food policies in 160 countries around the world.
The thirteenth edition of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto kicks off on October 8, 2020 and, instead of the classic five-day event, will last six months, offering a schedule of thousands of initiatives organized by the Slow Food network in 160 countries around the world and involving the public in digital, physical and widespread events. Terra Madre Salone del Gusto concludes with the International Slow Food Congress, scheduled to take place in Turin in April 2021, during which Slow Food delegates will ideally close the circle of reflections on the future of food that has emerged during these six months of travel. The most important event dedicated to good, clean and fair food, organized by Slow Food, the City of Turin and the Piedmont Region under the patronage of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry and the Ministry of the Environment and Protection of Land and Sea, once again shows its resilient spirit by adapting to the new conditions imposed by the Covid-19 emergency and revolutionizing its proposal.
The main reference point of the event is the web platform, accessible from the address www.terramadresalonedelgusto.com, which from 8 October will be populated day after day with all the digital events and physical appointments scheduled to animate Turin, Piedmont, Italy and the rest of the world. The digital contents published on the platform are subtitled in Italian and English and available for free to everyone. To support Terra Madre, but above all the projects that Slow Food carries out day after day in every corner of the planet, the Acting Together for the Common Good fundraiser has been launched on agire insieme per il bene comune.
The theme: Our Food, Our Planet, Our Future
The theme of the 2020 edition is Our Food, Our Planet, Our Future. Food, Planet, Our Future: a concatenation of relationships that tell us how we relate to our food – how we produce it, distribute it, choose it, consume it – will have significantly different impacts on our planet. A vision that could not be more current, given the scale of the emergency, not only health but also environmental, economic and social. But Covid-19 must also represent an extraordinary opportunity to open our eyes and find solutions: to the climate and environmental crisis, to the economic crisis generated by a development model based on unsustainable infinite growth, which feeds social injustice and the unequal distribution of wealth; to the exclusion of large sections of the population from fundamental rights; to the tragedy of migrants…
According to Slow Food, the only way to feed the planet, guaranteeing everyone good, clean and fair food, is through biodiversity in all its meanings: from the invisible level of bacteria to that of species, knowledge and cultures. And for this very reason, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is more necessary than ever in an edition that, thanks to the number of countries involved and participants, will bring to every corner of the world the message built-in Turin and Piedmont since 1996.
The new event: Digital and World
To begin the six months of Terra Madre is a busy calendar of appointments – both digital and physical – concentrated in the dates initially scheduled for the event, from October 8 to 12. All you need to do is connect to the platform’s Digital program to freely attend conferences, Food Talk and many other innovative formats created by Slow Food; Taste Workshops, in which you can participate both in attendance and from a distance, buying the entrance ticket or tasting kits from home, and much more.
And that’s not all! Terra Madre is also physical and widespread globally, full of events that will be shown progressively on the platform in a large planisphere that lights up indicating the physical places where the activities are organized. The first Taste Workshops and Table Appointments that will take place in Turin from October 8 to 12 are online (and still bookable). Over the course of the months, the calendar of physical and virtual events is enriched by the numerous activities organized by the Slow Food network in Italy and around the world, including the Slow Food Alliance of Cooks and Slow Food Taverns dinners; events in the Cities of Terra Madre involving families who have hosted delegates in past editions; Earth Markets and guided tastings managed locally by the Convivia and Slow Food Communities. A big spotlight is on Turin and Piedmont, where over 200 events are already planned during the six months (and others will be added along the way).
The most important initiatives scheduled for October include the presentation of the Slow Wine guide on the 4th at Milan Wine Week; celebrating 20 years of Slow Food Presidia with a conference (October 17 in Turin and live streaming) and inviting for the first time producers from all over Italy to open the doors of their farms to the public (Sunday, October 18), a widespread event that is also part of European Green Week; the two days on food policies for Terra Madre Bergamo with over one hundred delegates from the municipalities and regions of Italy to discuss how to feed cities in a sustainable way (23 and 24). In November, among other events on the bill, we will be able to follow, both physically and digitally, Terramare Campania, which will animate Naples with the stories and products of resilient communities (13-15); Terra Madre Taranto, which will gather the testimonies of those who are already working to ensure a future for the city based on a new paradigm of development (27-29); Terra Madre Brazil, which, thanks to digital technologies, brings together experts, cooks, producers and consumers despite Covid-19 (17-22).
Opportunities for exhibitors: marketplace, e-commerce and B2B
The Market of Italian and international producers has always been the heart of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, but the pandemic has canceled this and other direct sales and visibility opportunities for good, clean and fair food around the world. So how can we support them even in this situation? By hosting the Marketplace on the platform with real virtual showcases, full of text, video and photographic content, as well as direct contact with exhibitors, and with e-commerce, active since October and available for all six months, thanks to which producers can market a selection of their products in Italy and abroad. In addition, thanks to the collaboration with the Chamber of Commerce of Turin and Unioncamere Piemonte, this year B2B becomes even more valuable, a digital area where buyers and sales agents can get to know the exhibitors at Terra Madre to finalize business agreements. But that’s not all! A digital system, created with the support of In.HR and SCAI Comunicazione, will make it possible to organize online one-to-one meetings between exhibitors and chefs from the Slow Food network, specialized retailers and large-scale distribution agents.
The 2020 edition of Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is possible thanks to the support of companies that believe in the project. Platinum partners: Pastificio Di Martino, Unicredit, Lavazza, Acqua S.Bernardo, Quality Beer Academy; Gold partners: Agugiaro&Figna, Astoria, BBBell. With the support of Fondazione Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Torino, Associazione delle fondazioni di origine bancaria del Piemonte. With the contribution of IFAD, EU. In collaboration with SANA and Turismo Torino e Provincia.
