Giovanni Manfroni At the end of January, WorldFMC had the opportunity to attend Identita Golose Milan 2023, which they define as a “multifunctional concept for gastronomic and cultural events” with spaces dedicated to panel discussions, presentations, expositions with several training and educational opportunities. The theme this year was “La rivoluzione è servita” – or “the revolution is served.”
WorldFMC participated in two panels throughout the weekend. The first panel was called: “Le identità dei territori: il sogno nasce dalla terra” [The Identities of the Territories: the dream comes from the earth”].
Carmelo Troccoli, Executive Director of Fondazione Campagna Amica and Secretary General of WorldFMC spoke on this panel along with several other key speakers including:
- Roberto Morroni (Councilor for Agricultural and Agri-food Policies and for Environmental Protection and Enhancement of the Umbria Region),
- Roberta Tardani (Mayor of Orvieto)
- Francesca Caproni (Chartered Accountant and Director of Gal Trasimeno-Orvietano)
- Gianluca Polegri (Director of the Digital Experience Division of the Engineering Group)
- Olga Urbani (President of the Urbani Tartufi Group)
- Gianluca Terranova (Italian tenor and actor)
- Ciro Scamardella (Pipero, Roma)
With a wide range of panelists, the conversation ranged from a discussion on the need to focus on the products and beauty of the territories rather than rely on imports to an opera performance highlighting the connection between art, food, and territory. During this panel, Carmelo shared how farmers markets play a strategic role in preserving identity, as they create a bridge between the countryside and the city. He also described how farmers markets do not only preserve biodiversity, but that they also cultivate it, rebuilding what we have lost.
Moderated by Carmelo Troccoli and hosted by Fondazione Cotarella, the second panel focused on “L’alta ristorazione nel sistema del cibo locale” [Haute cuisine in the local food system”] featuring:
- Irene Volpe (Masterchef Finalist)
- Diego Scaramuzza (First Italian Agrifchef)
- Viola Capriola (Co-Founder of Grønt Marked in Copenhagen, a WorldFMC member)
- Shir Halpern (Co-Founder & Owner of Shuk Hanamal in Tel Aviv, a WorldFMC member)
During the conversation, Viola explained that while Copenhagen is often considered a “food city” as it boasts some of the top restaurants in the world, the food showcased there is inaccessible to most. She argued that a food city should instead promote access to good food for everyone – rather than food limited to a certain demographic. She emphasized the strength of the dominant industrialized food system in Copenhagen and how the Grønt Marked works to fight against its stronghold.
After co-founding Shuk Hanamal in Tel Aviv over 10 years ago, Shir described how she believes that there has been an evolution in the relationships between farmers and chefs, and how this new generation of young chefs handles seasonality and the farm to table movement differently:
“I see young chefs… I call them the new generation of farm to table, they come to the market … but they are not cherry picking anymore, they are not saying ‘Oh I had a vision of this wonderful dish with mushrooms, I need mushrooms.’ No…instead they want to meet the farmers. They go to the territory. They go to the farm and they [build] a relationship and they basically say ‘Whatever you grow this season, let me have it. Not just the mushrooms you grow, everything. Do you grow fennel? Do you have leaves you usually throw out? … I want everything.’”
– Shir Halpern
She shares how this new generation of chefs “serves” the farmers with an aim to build a more responsible, sustainable ecosystem.
Overall, we were thrilled to see the overlap in this discussion from chefs to farmers markets, all with a similar goal to grow the relationship between haute cuisine and local food. We are so grateful for Fondazione Cotarella’s support to attend this important event and for the opportunity to present our coalition.
For more discussions from the event, you can listen to interviews on Radio Comida – including one with our very own Secretary General, Carmelo Troccoli – listen here!
