Food wiks at the environment

by Silvia Musso

The “Salone Internazionale del Gusto” and Terra Madre, two events about “food culture” organized by Slow Food in Turin (Italy) from 21st to 25th October, are betting on environmental sustainability for this year’s edition.
The target, announced by the organizers within a special press conference, is to reduce by 65% the global impact on the environment of the two events, in comparison with last edition in 2008.
Lacking more precise data, to understand how this percentage has been calculated, it is interesting anyway to review the actions planned to reach this target.

«The project to cut off the environmental impact of the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre is a highly innovatory project, that confirms Slow Food’s vocation to take the best of our knowledge and use it to plan the future –says Roberto Burdese, president of Slow Food Italia- Thanks to this project (that, perhaps, has no equals in the world) we linked in a virtuous way more than 30 companies, finding effective solutions. This makes us proud of the two events, more and more coherent with our claim “buono, pulito e giusto” (good, clean and fair)».

These “alliances”, made real in two years of innovative researches, brought to 22 new ideas, grouped in ten guidelines: from the usage of eco-friendly materials for staging and graphic supports (the stands will be, for example, made with certified wood and exhausted olive residues; forex has been replaced with recycled paper; EverGreen has been preferred to Pvc) to the lengthening of the lifecycle of these materials (all the pallet used for the stands will be reused by some partner companies for their logistics); from reducing the energy needs to the maximization of the efficiency of transports, both for persons and goods.

Particular care has been given to the waste management, boosting the separate waste collection and planning “at source” prevention strategies.
With the involvement of Amiat (a member of AICA’s network), the system of collections aims at 70% of separation. All materials will be collected separately (plastics, paper and cardboard, glass and cans, organic waste, wood and cork, exhausted oil and unrecyclable waste), with the organization based on three levels: “islands” for customers, with volunteers of Legambiente (formed by ERICA soc. coop.’ staff) helping them to put each bit of waste in the correct box; “stand-to-stand” collection, collecting separate waste directly from every exhibitor’s stand, and a special collection of organic waste for kitchens.
As far as waste reduction is concerned, Slow Food will make a point of using less paper media and more “light” packaging, promoting tap water and using (compostable) Mater Bi for kitchenware and shoppers.
Furthermore, all wasted food will be re-used to prepare the final dinner, cooked by star chefs, or given to the “Buon Samaritano” project: at the end of the Salone, Amiat will collect all foodstuffs and the Municipality of Turin will give them to the charitable institutions of the town.