LAVAZZA AND SLOW FOOD TOGETHER WITH WOMEN AND MEN WORKING THE LAND IN AFRICA: THEY ARE THE "EARTH DEFENDERS" STARS OF THE "LAVAZZA CALENDAR 2015", BY STEVE MCCURRY, ON VIEW AT THE SALONE DEL GUSTO IN TURIN

Lavazza and Slow Food have come together to support women and men working the land in Africa. They are the "Earth Defenders", the stars of the Lavazza Calendar 2015, photographed by Steve McCurry, under the creative direction of Armando Testa. The 12 portraits include Nadia, proud paladin of argan oil in Morocco; John, keeper of the Lare pumpkins in Kenya and Asnakech, sentinel guarding the coffee plantations in Ethiopia, on display in Turin at the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre.
The last month of the calendar is the image of Father Peter’s school children in Tanzania throwing coffee beans in the air, the symbol of a viable future. The Calendar is on sale for the very first time and in limited edition, to support the "10.000 Gardens in Africa”.
In the meantime, the website Calendar2015.lavazza.com is kicking off a call-to-action to become a "Defender of the Earth", through a donation to the African gardens or a spokesperson for the project on social channels with the hash tag #earthdefenders.
"Defending products, quality and sustainable development are the values that our partnership with Slow Food is based upon”, explained Francesca Lavazza, Corporate Image Director of Lavazza. Giuseppe Lavazza, vice president of the company, points out that 80% of coffee production is in the hands of 25 million small producers, who have only an acre or so of land, a number that including satellite companies rises to 100 million”. “It is no longer possible”, said Carlo Petrini, president and founder of Slow Food, “ to tolerate that Africa is denied food sovereignty in their communities. Defending the earth is now imperative for everyone and if we do not defend it we are doing an injustice to future generations. We are destroying what our fathers left us”. The photographer McCurry, said, " it has been an incredible journey. We wanted to represent the dedication of these people to defend their food communities. It would be a shame to see these unique traditions disappear”.