A cup of mountain forest pu’er tea, a variety of dark aged tea from China’s Mekong region.A cup of mountain forest pu’er tea, a variety of dark aged tea from China’s Mekong region.

The Slow Food Beijing Festival, held at the Beijing Tianzhu Free Trade Zone and Culture Free Port in Beijing, China, focused on the value of local culture and traditions, the safeguarding of biodiversity and the importance of food and taste education.

The festival also raised awareness about the Ark of Taste project, an international catalogue of endangered heritage foods maintained by the global slow food movement. An exhibition explained the history and the importance of the project and over 100 Chinese products to be included in the catalogue were presented.

Since the start of Slow Food Great China activities in July, food producers and farmers from 32 provinces, cities and autonomous regions, as well as Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, have suggested a large number of endangered local foods with the support of Capiac (China Association for the Promotion of International Agricultural Cooperation).

A few examples are Heqing ham from Heqing county in the province of Yunnan, mountain forest pu’er tea from the Mekong region and suancha from Mangjing village in Puer city, in the Yunnan region.

Alongside the Chinese products, there were also 200 Ark of Taste products from the rest of the world. These included a wide range of different product types (fresh and dried fruit, vegetables, tubers, legumes, nuts, preserved vegetables, cured meat, cereals, flours, pasta, rice, oil, vinegar, honey, spices, syrups, cacao, tea, coffee and wine) from all over Europe, North and South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa.

Examples included argan oil from Morocco, Merken from Chile, Farim salt from Guinea Bissau, Don tea from South Korea, Rimbas black pepper from Malaysia, mead from Poland and Okanagan sockeye salmon from Canada.

Slow Food presidia products from all around the world were also available to taste and buy.

Slow Food leaders and delegates worldwide attended the event, which also included an international workshop and a seminar on slow food.

A forum entitled Slow Food Times tackled the promotion of a healthy food culture; increasing awareness of good, clean and fair food; eliminating food waste; encouraging the protection of animal rights and interests; identifying and supporting opportunities for the growth of urban agriculture; protecting, identifying and rejuvenating local ‘food memories’; and defending territories in order to establish food security.

The event was organised by Slow Food Great China in collaboration with Slow Food International, Beijing Design Week and the Free Trade Zone of Beijing Airport.

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