(ANSA) - Turin, October 23 - Pope Francis and Michelle Obama
have got behind Italy's famed Slow Food movement's signature
international food and wine event in Turin.
The pontiff and the US first lady sent messages to
delegates attending the opening of the 10th edition of the
Salone del Gusto in the northwestern city on Wednesday.
In a telegram signed by Vatican Secretary of State Pietro
Parolin Francis sent his "thoughts and best wishes" for the
event organised by Slow Food in conjunction with the Turin city
and Piedmont regional authorities.
The pope also said he hoped the five-day fair might
"encourage renewed commitment to ensuring that noone in the
world is lacking necessary and healthy nutrition".
The organisers' "commitment to protecting regional
traditions and local flavours is making the difference for
people throughout the world," said Michelle Obama, a strong
advocate of healthy eating and exercise, in a video message to
the event.
"I want to thank you for all you are doing to promote a
healthy and nutritious diet for our families and communities.
Thank you also for raising awareness on these issues throughout
the world," she said.
"As you all know well, food is not just ful for the body.
It is a way of expressing who we are as people, of showing our
affection to friends, family and neighbours," Michelle Obama
added.
The First Lady expressed her enthusiasm particularly for
Slow Food's 10,000 gardens in Africa initiative, a project that
takes after her own heart.
"I know how important it is to produce healthy food within
communities," she said in reference to her own initiative to
start a vegetable garden on the White House lawn.
"It is a marvellous way to show young people where their
food comes from and teach them the importance of a healthy diet.
This knowledge will be passed on to their children. And so your
work is fundamental not just for the young people of today but
for future generations," she concluded.
This year's Salone del Gusto has two main themes: family
farming, which accounts for 90% of the agriculture industry and
98% of cultivated land; and the Arc of Taste, an initiative
launched by Slow Food several years ago to save foods, crops and
fishing, breeding and pasture methods that are at risk of
extinction.
"We have already saved 2,000 products," said Slow Food
international secretary Paolo Di Croce.
"Our aim is to reach 10,000 in the next four years."
In a speech at the inaugural ceremony on Wednesday Slow
Food president Carlo Petrini condemned a food system that he
described as "criminal", urging intersted parties to "reject a
logic of waste, of a system that does not valorise food and the
communities that produce it".
"You are the true defenders of biodiversity," he then told
the 4,000 peasant farmers, artisans and animal farmers
representing Slow Food's Terra Madre communities from all over
the world.
"People will come to your villages to ask for the species
you are growing in order to survive. And you must not be afraid
to defend your small species, the seeds, even if them seem small
to you."
"In Turin the absolute centrality of family farming will be
reaffirmed. In this respect Italy is a formidable laboratory,"
said Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina highlighting the link
between Salone del Gusto and next year's Milan Expo 2015 under
the theme is 'Feeding the planet, energy for life'.
However on Thursday Petrini criticised the Universal
Exhibition, saying it still lacked "soul".
"Either the next five months are used to create a soul and
turn the event into an agora for community dialogue or it risks
being a nice trade fair that will fail to go down in history,"
he said.
The Salone del Gusto is expected to draw tens of thousands
of visitors to the Piedmont capital in pursuit of food that is
"healthy, clean and fair".
Some 1,200 exhibitors are present to display their products
and there is also a programme of cookery lessons, workshops,
conferences and other educational initiatives.
Pope, Michelle Obama back Gusto fair
Salone del Gusto in Turin promotes biodiversity, family farming