The Slow Food Awards
Report by Barbara Santich
Late in 1999, Carlo Petrini and the Slow Food* organisation announced a new initiative to further the aims of the organisation and advance its causes – the Slow Food Awards.
The Slow Food Awards, each valued at 10,000 euros, were created specifically to draw attention to individuals and organisations anywhere in the world who "defend, promote or enhance our heritage of animal and vegetable species, products, knowledge or flavours" and who are recognised as "guardians and leaders of taste and promulgators of its [that is, Slow Food's] own values". In particular, they would highlight "projects designed to conserve the food culture of the past for the future".
Jury members in many different countries submitted around 450 nominations for the Awards, and from these were chosen thirteen finalists – all "benefactors of humanity in the name of agriculture and of pleasure", in the words of Carlo Petrini. The votes of jury members who gathered in Bologna, Italy, at the end of October eventually determined the five winners of Slow Food Awards for 2000.
In the venerable hall of the Aula de Santa Lucia, originally part of Europe's oldest university (the University of Bologna dates back to1088), the merits and achievements of each of the thirteen finalists were described before the announcement of the Awards. All were worthy candidates, from the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy to Roberto Rubino and the National Association of Open Air Cheeses, a group he founded to protect and improve cheeses made from the milk of grazing animals. Nevertheless, there was unanimous approval of the five winners: Nancy Jones, Raúl Antonio Manuel, Marija Mikhailovna Girenko, Jesus Garzón Heyde and Veli Gülas. The winners were additionally distinguished by their commitment to the maintenance of tradition and culture as well as the preservation of plant or animal species. Their outstanding dedication, altruism and humility set high standards for Slow Food Awards in the future.
Nancy Jones' camel milk dairy in Mauritania, established in 1988, buys and processes milk from desert-dwelling camel herders, thereby allowing them to continue their traditional nomadic lifestyle and, with the small income they receive, to improve the quality of both their herds and their life. At the same time the dairy ensures a supply of fresh milk for an increasing city population.
Raúl Antonio Manuel is the young leader of an indigenous community in a remote area of southern Mexico where the original language is still widely spoken. He encouraged the cultivation of high-quality vanilla that, before the development of synthetic vanillin, had been a traditional crop in the region as a way of ensuring a more stable income for the population, which until then had been largely dependent on the volatile fortunes of coffee. The success of his initiatives depended on the involvement and cooperation of the whole community, and the results are evident in an improved standard of living and enhanced community self-esteem.
Marija Mikhailovna Girenko worked in, and became the director of, the Vavilov Institute of Research in St Petersburg, Russia. She was one of the researchers responsible for collecting seeds of vegetable and other plants throughout Russia, a collection that remained intact despite the lengthy siege of the city during World War II when many citizens, including researchers working at the Institute, died of starvation. The seeds she saved, which have become living collections, are an invaluable resource because of their flavour characteristics; such qualities have been lost from modern hybrids.
Jesus Garzón Heyde revived the transhumance traditions of northern Spain, whereby sheep would move from the plains in winter to higher pastures in summer. He has trained shepherds – and equipped them with mobile phones so that they need not feel so isolated – to continue this tradition, including the communal celebrations in villages along the transhumance trails. The sheep themselves act as carriers of seed from one environment to another and thus help create the ideal habitat for other species. Further, this revaluing of mountain environments has drawn attention to the mountains and saved them from abandonment.
Veli Gülas is a beekeeper from Turkey who has steadfastly maintained a local tradition of beekeeping, relying on local Hemsin bees that are specifically adapted to this environment and hives made from beech trunks. He is the only beekeeper remaining to work according to time-honoured methods; since Hemsins cannot live in hives with rough edges or sharp corners, a particular style of hive based on old tree trunks has proved ideal. Veli Gülas' example shows that traditional beekeeping in the area can be a viable and satisfying enterprise and one that helps ensure the preservation of natural bio-diversity in forests and other natural environments.
* The Official Slow Food Manifesto endorses "quiet material pleasures [as] the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life" in the belief that "suitable doses of guaranteed sensual pleasure and slow, long-lasting enjoyment [will] preserve us from the contagion of the multitude who mistake frenzy for efficiency". The Manifesto proposes that the practice of this philosophy "should begin at the table with Slow Food. Let us rediscover the flavours and savours of regional cooking and banish the degrading effects of Fast Food".
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