Hi Everybody,

I just returned from Terra Madre, the International Slow Food event in Turin, Italy, that brings together farmers, fisherman, chefs, food activists, small producers, experts, and indigenous peoples from around the world, who share a common desire to create a bio-diverse food system that is clean, good, fair, and accessible to all. The event is a combo conference and food expo, with symposiums, forums, cooking demos, food tastings and food displays from small purveyors from around the world, set up throughout the historical and beautiful city of Turin. Headphones are available at all of the conferences and events, which are translated into almost every language. The topic of the first conference I attended was, “Our Relationship with the Earth Through Contemporary Art.” I’ve always been attracted to using art as a means to share a message, and I wanted to hear the conversation between curator, Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev and artist, Amar Kanwar on his use of art to highlight the land grabbing and environmental destruction that he is observing in his home country, India. Both the discussion in the morning of his multimedia project, The Sovereign Forest, and the screening of the film portion, entitled The Scene of Crime, were thought provoking and very moving. Amar Kanwar uses beautiful, poetic images to tell a tragic love story, of what happens when multi-national corporations come in and take the land that people and animals have been living on for centuries.

Following the film screening, award winning chef, Davide Scabin. prepared a risotto tasting for us on the patio of his restaurant, Combal.Zero at the Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art. He prepared three varieties of Risotto, using heritage rice and local ingredients, including a food for the future, insects! (I skipped that one!) Curator Carolyn Christov-Bakargiev arranged for me to meet and interview Chef Davide Scabin at the end of our tasting, and I’ll be sharing a bit from that interview with you on Thursday.

I also met Michel Bras, the chef from the documentary film, Step Up to the Plate, which my local Slow Food Chapter screened last year at the Cinema. He was part of a panel discussion, “When Chefs Side with Farmers,”  talking about the direct connections that chefs can have with farmers, and how chefs can influence public policy and the food choices people make. Another panel discussion I attended was on “The True Cost of Cheap Food“, and while I felt the presenters could have done a better job in discussing the topic, the discussion that followed from the audience was excellent and very informative. Basically, the idea of assessing the true cost of cheap food, would hold producers and food manufacturers responsible for the cost of cleaning up the environmental damage and the increased medical costs that the production of their product causes. This would include soil and water clean up from pesticide and herbicide contamination, the processing of animal waste, and the increase in medical conditions that are directly linked to processed foods. If the food manufacturers had to include this cost into their products (rather than passing it onto the tax payer) it would make processed foods more expensive and the cost of organic food would be less expensive.

Some of the best times, were the conversations that happened around the table over lunch. That’s where I ran into Marion Nestle, who was invited to be on a

Marion Nestle, author and professor, with Denisa Livingston of the Navajo Tribe

panel discussing ways to “Vote with your Fork”, and to advocate for transparency in our foods, when we are up against the giant multinationals like Monsanto. It was a great discussion!

Of course, a visit to Italy wouldn’t be complete without visiting a local bistro and vineyard, and we were guests of Eattiamo at Ceretto, a certified organic vineyard in the countyside of Alba. I was impressed by the commitment to sustainability in the practices of the vineyard, from using rose bushes at the ends of the rows, to the new solar panels on the roof, providing electricity to the vineyard. It was hard to leave, but now that I am home, I am glad to be here too!

This week on the Progressive Radio Network, my guest is Janine Mori, who is a longevity specialist and founder of Panoramic Living, an organization educating the public on how to implement principles that will help you live longer and be healthier. Janine is a consultant, motivational speaker and Blue Zone® Coach⃰, and challenges organizations and individuals to examine daily life practices, and to implement high-impact changes with positive, sustainable results. Please join me on Thursday to find out more about Panoramic Living and the Blue Zone Diet!

Remember, my show is recorded live, every Thursday, from 10-11 am, EST.  To tune in, navigate to PRN.fm and click the “Listen Live” button on the left. Also try downloading the PRN mobile app, and take the station with you wherever you go! If you want to call in during the show with any questions for me or my guest, the call in number is 888-874-4888.

If you can’t tune in at that time, you can listen to the show in the PRN archives, or through a direct phone line to my archives. Just dial 1-701-719-0880, and you can listen to the past 5 weeks of shows! Of course you can also access the shows through my website, or through iTunes. Please “like” iEat Green’s Facebook page and feel free to rate the show and leave comments on iTunes and on my website. Thank you all for your support.

With love and gratitude,

Bhavani

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