A lever of positive innovation
The UNA Foundation and Slow Food Great China have presented, within the framework of Terra Madre 2024, the projects Wild and Good and Slow Village, through which over the years the reflection on the contribution of food to the transformation of environmental challenges has found concrete expression, as a lever for positive innovation in economic, social and educational policies. The creation and management of a wild meat supply chain, to generate economy and employment especially in small villages, is the example brought forward by Fondazione UNA with Selvatici e Buoni, whose operational manual, the result of collaboration with the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo and SIMeVeP, the Italian Society of Preventive Veterinary Medicine, today provides a concise and competent guide to the actors potentially involved in the implementation of the supply chain path. From the pilot project in Bergamo, where the controlled supply chain model was applied for the first time, to the protocol signed with the Lombardy Region in 2019 to allow export to other provinces, Selvatici e Buoni has represented an important push for local economic and employment development for the territories involved, helping to recognize the positive role that food plays.
The Potential of Wild Meat
“What moves us, and is shared with the project partners, is the possibility of changing, even at a cultural level, the way in which the potential of wild meat is perceived. A resource whose potential is not yet fully expressed, and which we believe can instead bring well-being and development” – commented Maurizio Zipponi, President of the UNA Foundation – “The invitation we want to make to all decision-makers in the area is to consider this as an opportunity for growth, which requires commitment but returns value and distinctiveness”. Silvio Barbero, Vice President of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, added: “The meat of free-living wild ungulates is an organic food par excellence, characterized by a low fat content and a high protein content. These are meats that look to a model of ethical and sustainable consumption, through which, now through Selvatici e Buoni, we aim to make responsible and increase the skills of all the actors involved, from the hunter to the processor to the restaurateur, to create a cultural and consumption model that is virtuous, legitimate and with positive value for the territories”.
Conservation culture
The Slow Village project, promoted by Slow Food Great China and presented during the 7th Slow Food International Congress in 2017, also proposes to protect the existence of traditional villages in the rural areas of the city of Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China, through the defense and conservation of the gastronomic heritage. The final objective is to promote the economic and social development of the villages, encouraging a culture of conservation of biodiversity and culinary traditions and working to consolidate a model inspired by the Slow Food philosophy in rural areas. “2024 is the year of the restart of the Slow Village project in China. In Chengdu (PengZhou City) the project contributes to the reconstruction of the area hit by the earthquake in 2008; in Fijian, we are working with the help of the famous monk JIQUN in the WuyiShan mountain; in ZheJiang, we are dedicating ourselves to a village on top of a mountain” commented Vittorio Sun Qun, Director of Slow Food Great China. “We are working on these projects with a new spirit, which is not just about rebuilding villages but about working on the definition of a network: between consumers and producers, between young students, artists and architects, between villages and national parks, between China and Italy. A virtuous network between territories, cultures, people, that can improve the life of communities”.
The recovery of cultural traditions
The presentation of the projects took place during Terra Madre 2024, hosted by Fonderie Ozanam, during “The recovery of cultural traditions of food that changes the life of communities”, an event that saw the interventions of Maurizio Zipponi, President of Fondazione UNA, Silvio Barbero, VP of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, Vittorio Sun Qun, Director of Slow Food Great China, Rossana Turina, President of the Pinerolese Tourist Consortium, Valeria Barchiesi, Mountain Project Specialist of the FAO. Afterwards, those present were able to take part in a tasting of wild meats by the chef of Foresteria Massello, Loredana Fancoli (Alleanza Cuochi Slow Food), accompanied by wines offered by Huaxia Group Milano: further concrete examples of how food can be a vector of culture, and a means through which to foster a fruitful exchange between different traditions.
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