Balkan tourism, food, support and politics

Cross border development recipe for Balkan Slow Food Terra Madre

Delegates from 11 Balkan countries will take part in a food community meeting, this year held from June 19 to 22 in Dubrovnik, Croatia

The Terra Madre Balkans network chose Dubrovnik (Croatia) for this third meeting to bring together food communities from Southeast Europe. More than 200 delegates will be arriving from 11 countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, The Republic of Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey). Slow Food President Carlo Petrini will also be present.

The event has received support from the President of the Republic of Croatia, Ivo Josipovi-‡.

KinoOkus and Slow Food Dubrovnik will organize the event with the support of Slow Food, the Croatian Ministry for Agriculture, the county of Dubrovnik-Neretva and the city of Dubrovnik all in partnership with the University of Dubrovnik as well as with the support of the US Food and Agriculture Organisation, REDD, and the "Table for Nine Billion" project.

Terra Madre Balkans is the first network of its kind to unite food communities from several countries of the same region. As Balkan countries share common distinctive food traditions and similar socio-economic conditions, the safeguarding of their rural heritage requires shared and timely efforts that go beyond national borders.

Slow Food and Terra Madre has now formed a deep-rooted network in the region with over 1500 members, 16 Slow Food Presidia, 80 food communities, 25 chefs and 15 educational programs on nutrition and taste in schools.

The event will offer a series of conferences and debates, which will take place at the University of Dubrovnik. The historical park Gradac will host an Earth Market, where over 30 booths will give visitors the chance to discover a wide selection of products from food communities and Slow Food Presidia in the Balkans.

The event will also aim to fundraise money in support of the several food communities damaged by the worst floods to hit Bosnia and Serbia in the past 120 years. Slow Food has also set-up a way of donating money towards this cause on its website:

Terra Madre Balkans is organized within the framework of the project ESSEDRA, co-financed by the European Union towards DG Enlargement. Slow Food promotes the project with the goal of assisting the integration process of the Balkans and Turkey into Europe by strengthening civil society; namely its capacity to influence policies and to promote sustainable rural development.

The upcoming event will also be used as an opportunity to present over 150 Balkan products listed in Slow Food’s Ark of Taste catalogue that collects small-scale quality productions belonging to the cultures, history and traditions of the entire planet but are at risk of extinction.

The international Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto event will be held in Turin from October 23-27 this year. Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre are united once more into a single event that will see the presence of Terra Madre food communities from all over the world as well as food producers, Slow Food Presidia and chefs, Taste Workshops and educational activities. Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2014 in Turin will host an exhibition area of around 100 square meters dedicated entirely to the Balkans where more than 50 food communities and Slow Food Presidia will exhibit and sell their products.

For further information:

www.slowfood.it

www.essedra.com

Valere Tjolle

Tourism & Green Growth Agenda – Ministers Briefing on offer, more info HERE