TURIN, Italy – Lavazza’s 2015 calendar is unveiled at a preview event of Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre on October 22, featuring portraits of African Slow Food Presidium producers taken by famous photographer Steve McCurry.
The 2015 Lavazza calendar has been unveiled at a preview event of the 10th edition of Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre. The calendar focuses on African producers related to Slow Food projects and features 12 photographs of African Slow Food producers and communities. The calendar has been developed to shine a spotlight on the African continent and the “Earth Defenders,” the people who every day defend their land and projects with courage and devotion.
“Earth Defenders are people who are working to preserve the earth’s most precious resources and liberate Africa from multinationals, monocultures and seed patenting,” said Slow Food vice-president Edie Mukiibi from Uganda who is also subject of one of McCurry’s portraits. “One of the ways to preserve biodiversity is to give visibility to places where these resources are being actively protected through the daily work of people in the Slow Food network. This work needs to be shown and their efforts need to be shared.”
The visitors to the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2014 over the next five days will be able to enjoy these photos, which will be exhibited during the event and copies will be available for sale in limited editions. The photographs tell the story of a journey to the African continent through the faces, landscapes and local products.
Proceeds from the sale of the limited-edition calendar will go to supporting Slow Food’s 10,000 Gardens in Africa project, enabling Terra Madre communities to continue to cultivate more food gardens in schools, villages and city outskirts, which is already present within 32 African countries.
“Ten thousand is just a drop in the ocean, but will allow farmers and agronomists to grow their own food,” said Carlo Petrini, President of Slow Food. “Africans are able to manage the future of Africa; our role is a different one. I use the verb ‘give back’. It’s not charity or helping the poor; it’s giving back what our civilization has robbed from Africa.”
ABOUT SALONE DEL GUSTO – Organized by Slow Food, the region of Piedmont and the city of Turin in collaboration with the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, the international Salone del Gusto event is coming back to Turin, Italy, this year in its 10th edition. Dedicated to the world of food, Salone del Gusto is once more united into a single event with the international meeting of Terra Madre, the network of small-scale producers from around the world, which is now in its 10th year. Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre 2014 will be held from October 23-27 in Turin’s trade fair Centre Lingotto Fiere and see the presence of over 1000 exhibitors from 130 countries.
