Representatives from the Slow Food network from over 120 countries will meet in Turin, Italy, from September 26 to 30

What makes Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024 the world's largest international event dedicated to good, clean and fair food and food policies? With just under a month to go until the 15th edition, taking place from September 26 to 30 at Parco Dora in Turin, we share the stories of some of the over 3,000 participants from 120 countries who will bring the event to life: farmers, Indigenous peoples, cooks, young activists, food artisans and producers from 180 Slow Food Presidia. They will come from across the globe: from Japan, the Philippines, Ukraine, Taiwan, the United States, Saudi Arabia, North Macedonia, Carinthia in Austria, Araba-Álava in Spain's Basque Country and many other places. The journey of Terra Madre, guided by the theme "We Are Nature," showcases how food is an integral part of the identity of regions and communities, exploring techniques and traditions that endure and evolve over time.

Opportunities will abound to try new flavors, from Taste Workshops to Dinner Dates to tastings at the Alliance Kitchen. From Africa, fonio and moringa, an ancient grain and a nutritionally rich plant, will feature as the main ingredients in an indigenous salad prepared by Wisdom Abiro, a young chef and leader of the Ghana Food Movement, a network of farmers, cooks, researchers, nutritionists and entrepreneurs who have come together to enhance the potential of Ghanaian food. From further south, the Slow Food Cooks' Alliance from Lesotho will be running a workshop in which traditional dishes like nyekoe and lipabi will be presented together with innovative creations that use native ingredients with a modern twist, including Ark of Taste varieties of beans, lentils, wheat and red and white sorghum.

Latin America will also be heavily represented. The vibrant flavors of plantain, a starchy tropical fruit that serves as a cornerstone of traditional cuisine, have nourished and inspired generations. Carlos Estevez and Jennifer Rodriguez, coordinators of the Slow Food Cooks' Alliance in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, will be offering exciting variations and new creations in their plantain-focused workshop. In another Taste Workshop, producers and experts from South America will explore the many nuances of cacao with a multisensory approach that engages taste, touch and smell. In addition to pure chocolate, participants will also taste pozol, a beverage made from corn and cacao, typical of southern Mexico and Central America in general. In the space run by the University of Gastronomic Sciences, alumna Abril Macías will present the gastronomic magazine Chiù and guide the audience through a discovery of Latin American beverages featuring two local specialties: miske, a distilled alcoholic beverage from Ecuador made from Andean agave, and chicha, Latin America's traditional fermented corn drink.

The journey then moves between Europe and Asia with the Turkish Slow Food Cooks' Alliance, represented in Turin by Serhan Hasdemir and Tülay Bayraktar Saygılı. At Terra Madre, they'll be presenting two dishes that blend traditional techniques with contemporary methods, antalya piyazi, a warm bean salad, and an Ark of Taste cheese roll with Kaman walnuts, purple Reyhan basil, toasted chickpea powder, dried Bardacık figs and fresh fig sauce. From further east, Slow Food Korea also has a strong presence at Parco Dora. Together with KORIA, the Cultural Association of Korean Italian Adoptees, they will be offering an interactive experience exploring the country's traditional fermented sauces—doenjang (fermented soybean paste) and gochujang (spicy chili paste)—accompanied by kimchi and doenjang-guk, a traditional soup. At the entrance to Saudi Arabia's stand, visitors will be welcomed with Ajwa dates and traditional cardamom coffee, before discovering and tasting dishes that highlight the country's biodiversity.

But at Terra Madre, the visitor experience goes beyond convivial moments that highlight different cultures and communities. The five-day event is also an opportunity to bring together and facilitate dialogue between geographically distant producers who nonetheless share similar challenges and aspirations. Among these are the fishermen of Callao in Peru and the mussel farmers of the Mar Piccolo in Taranto, Italy united by their commitment to protecting the places where they live and work, while respecting cultural traditions. Their exchange will be followed by a special dinner that uses the queen of Puglia's Presidia, the Taranto black mussel, in a Peruvian ceviche, which UNESCO has recently added to its Intangible Cultural Heritage list, exemplifying how diverse flavors and aromas can create a perfect harmony and how a new culinary concept can become a bridge between cultures and a tool for integration. Another example is offered by chef Mareme Cissé from the Slow Food Cooks' Alliance, who will offer a tasting capturing the essence of her restaurant, Ginger People&Food in Agrigento: celebrating Sicilian tradition with a touch of Senegalese sunshine.

Set in the picturesque Rivoli countryside, Villa La Maggiorana is hosting an Off-Menu Dinner prepared by Sean Sherman, a renowned Indigenous chef known for his dedication to revitalizing and promoting Native American cuisine. Also known as "The Sioux Chef," at Terra Madre he will be collaborating with Linda Black Elk, a distinguished ethnobotanist and expert in indigenous plants, and Alexis Nelson, a well-known forager of wild ingredients. Together they'll be combining the traditions of North America with the flavors offered by the Italian countryside.  

Producers of bread, flours, baked goods, cured meats, cheeses, pasta, rice, extra-virgin olive oils, chocolate, teas, dried fruits and preserved fish: At Terra Madre, you can take a world tour alongside 600 producers. These are tangible examples of food as a full expression of the relationship between humans and nature: from pure saffron from Afghanistan to poppy-based specialties from Pemak in Slovakia to bitters from the US distillery Eda Rhyne. Among the Slow Food Presidia, you'll find oysters from the seas of Brittany and Charente from French company Earl La Belle de Penerf, Irish raw-milk cheeses from Gylde Farm Produce, aged artisanal Gouda from Boeren Goudse Oplegkaas in the Netherlands and products made from Euskal Txerria pork by Urdapilleta in Spain. You can explore the program of the main international spaces confirmed so far here.

At Parco Dora, notable figures from the international food and wine scene aren't just present at the Market stalls. You'll also find them in various exhibition spaces, such as the Slow Food Coffee Coalition. Here, with a perfect blend of education and conviviality, different types of coffee will be roasted and can be tasted alongside coffee growers from Cuba, Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Peru, Malawi, Uganda, India, Thailand and the Philippines. Other influential figures will be participating in the scheduled events at the Arenas, where delegates, activists and experts delve into the relationship with nature from multiple perspectives. They include:

Dave Goulson from the United Kingdom, a professor of natural and environmental sciences at the University of Sussex, who in 2010 won the Social Innovator of the Year award from the Biology and Biotechnology Research Council for his work defending endangered insects.

Alice Waters from the US, a chef, writer and food education activist, as well as the owner of the famous Chez Panisse in Berkeley. In 1996, she launched the Edible Schoolyard project, in which food gardens cultivated by the students are planted next to school kitchens.

Sandor Ellix Katz, one of the foremost experts on fermentation, described by the New York Times as "one of the few rock stars of the American food scene."

Larissa Mies Bombardi, a Brazilian researcher and lecturer now living in exile in Belgium due to growing threats following the publication of her 2017 work, Atlas Geografía del Uso de Plaguicidas en Brasil y Conexiones con la Unión Europea.