DARIO FO, OLMI, DAVERIO, CELENTANO AND LELLA COSTA ARE SOME OF THE MOST FAMOUS MILANESE CITIZENS TO OPEN THEIR HOMES TO HOST THE FARMERS THAT SLOW FOOD’S "YOUNG MOTHER EARTH", IS BRINGING TO EXPO 2015, OCTOBER 3RD - 6TH

“The young people coming to Milan for Young Mother Earth-We Feed the Planet are the symbol of modernity - they will change the agriculture model, keeping foremost in mind beauty, spirituality and sharing. The young people of Terra Madre will put the emphasis on earth, often lacking. and which is too often treated more like a servant than a mother”.
This is what Terra Madre Young means to Carlo Petrini, founder and president of Slow Food that will bring together in Milan, from October 3rd to 6th, thousands of farmers from around the world to find solutions together to feed the planet. And, to do that Slow Food has asked Milan to open their homes and host these young people.
“When we talk about hospitality, we are not talking just about a location, but also about collaboration, sharing. Many friends have already pledged their hospitality: Claudia Mori and Adriano Celentano, Philippe Daverio, Ermanno Olmi and Dario Fo. This is the soul of Milan, which is all of you, and you will truly understand when you see how their eyes shine when they talk about their earth. These young people will return home with the most important value, self-esteem, which is what really changes the world".

The actress and writer Lella Costa has also pledged hospitality, “it is extraordinarily easy to be there and give my support to this event, because I know Terra Madre and I know these people, full of life and enthusiasm, who besides feeding the world, nourish the soul. Hosting young farmers will be a great honor, it will be an opportunity to share and to learn that knowledge is what destroys prejudices and allows collaboration. We all give our contribution but doing and not telling is not enough, while just saying and not doing, is nothing at all”.

Monsignor Luca Bressan, Episcopal Vicar for the culture, mission and social action of the diocese of Milan will also welcome young people during the event, and said, “This year dedicated to food makes sense if we can focus our attention on the real stars: starting small and building visions of the future, we must learn to collaborate and grow together, so we can create bonds of harmony”.

Petrini continued, “the Expo could have done a little more to emphasize the relationship with Mother Earth that more than ever in this period of time has been scorned by many. We hope that the closing will be not just telling us how many visitors attended. We hope that it attracts the real stars of daily food; that is, the small producers that work every day to guarantee us our bread on the table”.
Family farming, “is what feeds most of the people in the world and therefore should be supported”, said the president of Slow Food Petrini s in a press conference with the mayor Giuliano Pisapia today at Palazzo Marino in Milan, “we cannot afford to abandon the wisdom of our elders, exclude women or not have a future for young people. Milan will see the generosity of these kids: during the event they will cook for the homeless in the city using only scraps; the poor will teach us to be generous”.

Petrini continued, “Give us a hand to allow these young people to leave their villages and come to discover the world. Put some money in this pot (the crowd funding campaign launched on the site www.terramadregiovani.it). You will be helping a moral, political and cultural idea that will be the true soul of this Expo. And I would like to conclude by thanking our fellow travelers, the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, the Compagnia di San Paolo, Fondazione Cariplo and the Diocese of Milan”.

The symbol of this crowd funding campaign, created by Saatchi & Saatchi, is Small Scale Producers, the local producers that really do nourish the planet.
The mayor of Milan, Giuliano Pisapia, said that Terra Madre Young is “a wonderful event that will energize our city. We renew our commitment to uphold the right for these young people to travel and we pledge our hospitality. I myself will open my home. The countries in the southern hemisphere are increasingly asking to return the sovereignty of resources to the people and help redistribute wealth more fairly. Thanks to your commitment, Milan will make people understand how the poor should truly become the first”.

What is the three-day event all about? “It will be exchanges, meetings, discussions and having fun, Eat-In and Disco Soups, so these young people will return home full of enthusiasm and new ideas that we will also bring to Expo on the final day of Terra Madre Young” explained Joris Lohman, representative of the Slow Food Youth Network.