Letter to Slow Food Philadelphia

Mark and I want to thank you hugely for sending us again as delegates to Terra Madre.  It is an extraordinary privilege to participate in this international conference.  During the speeches and meetings we attended, I took some notes with the intention of sharing them with you. There were also inspiring personal interactions with individuals.  7000 people attended--primary food producers, educators, chefs, and over 700 young people who represent the future for wholesome food on this planet.

     You should be proud:  there is so much of importance that Slow Food is doing now all over the world with regard to food, seed, GMO's, climate change, and education. An example: we walked one morning from the Palasport Olimpico to Salone Del Gusto. (Don't get me started on that! It is mind-blowing!) with a retired businessman from Modena.  He is involved with Ethiopian honey producers, teaching them biologically safe modern techniques to improve their productivity. Almost half the families there keep bees! Tradition enhanced by conscious modern practices. The Piedmont Regional Governor, and the Mayor of Turin also mentioned efforts of this kind in Italy.

     May each of you have the opportunity some day to hear Vandana Shiva speak.  She is a combination of fiery political activist and loving compassionate mother.  She has the intelligence, dedication and energy to be taking on Monsanto and the corporate take-over of seed production, which has been devastating in India, and which affects all of us whether we know it or not.

     Native American speaker Winona LaDuke spoke of cultural diversity being as important as biological diversity. This is severely threatened all over the world.  In New Hebrides, in the Pacific, where politicians push for change, there is an indigenous attempt to redefine "development" so that traditional ways of life, built on relationships, can be maintained.  I was delighted by Winona's reference to wild rice as her people's "relatives."

Can I give you just a few of my personal Terra Madre highlights?

• Hugging Roseanna, the flame-haired Torinese volunteer who I've bonded with at each Terra Madre.
• The Siberian dancer who became a sea bird as she danced.
• Getting to know and love Tom Culton, whose food you can buy at Headhouse Market, or eat at some Philly restaurants.
• On one long bus ride to the hotel, breaking into the Partisan song "Ciao Bella Ciao" with Gio and Rachele, two Italian volunteer guides, amongst the many hundreds who make this amazing conference happen--transporting, housing and feeding us all.

     Now a very big thing:  There was a Food Justice meeting one afternoon (mainly Americans attending) addressing the issue of bringing good, nutritious food to people, while enabling farmers and other food producers to make a decent living.  (Haven't solved this one yet.) Before that meeting, however, we had a remarkable experience.  The buffet lunch line is very long. Right before getting to the food, I hear American accents, and ask the two young men behind us "where are you guys from?"  "Philly." they answer. Jaw drops!  What??!!  They are James Piett and Juan Carlos Romano from the Food Trust, and we are soon joined by Nicky Uy.  The five of us eat lunch in intense and joyful conversation.

     This conversation will continue here at the farm soon, joined by Hans Jacob Werlen. We all have ideas, and will be exploring ways to get good, fresh, nutritious food into, for example, Juan Carlos' bodega.  You, Slow Foods Philly folks, will be kept informed as we move from ideas to action.  And perhaps involved as well?

     The final morning, the ever-awesome Carlo Petrini chaired a meeting on "Food is Sacred." I can't tell you how happy I was to find this on the agenda.  Enzo Bianchi, Prior of the Bose Monastery, kept stressing "questioning" of what you are doing. We clink glasses, he said, not just for a well-wishing toast, but to add the sense of hearing to the touch o the glass in hand, and the taste and smell of the wine.  A degree of awareness of eating and sharing food that is lost when one eats fast food hurriedly, with the TV on.

     Satish Kumar of Schumacher College in the UK spoke of the apple tree's impartial generosity.  And that all aspects of food--from soil and seed to eating, is one of relationship, interconnectedness and part of Oneness.

     So Mark and I  thank you, Slow Foods Philly, in the corner of the Divine Tapestry that we share, for giving us this opportunity to be reminded and inspired.  We hope that the food that we grow sustains and nourishes you, and delights you with the flavors it brings forth from our dear Terra Madre.

                                                                                                      Judy Dornstreich