Pope Francis close to farmers: “agriculture is instrumentalized by the logic of profit”

If the Pope decides to write a letter to express his closeness “to all those people, women and men, who have a primary role in the production and processing of food”, emphasizing how “their work holds an enormous importance in the preservation of the planet”, then Carlo Petrini, Slow Food founder, is right when he says that “Terra Madre is the UN of farmers, breeders and shepherds, a political subject with which politics must deal”. Thus opened in Turin, with a letter from Bergoglio, Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2024, the event-symbol of Slow Food, edition No. 15 (September 26-30), which in the name of good, healthy and fair food has attracted, again this year, more than 3,000 delegates arriving from 120 countries around the world, and which will go on among conferences, talks, tastings, farmers' markets, workshops and meetings. “You”, the pontiff writes, “are often the first to suffer the effects of the climate crisis, in a sick world where agriculture is instrumentalized by the logic of profit that exploits workers”. That is, those courageous people, according to Slow Food Italy President Barbara Nappini, who “are already inside the change to try to get out of the environmental and climate degradation we are experiencing”.
In his letter, Pope Francis addresses directly the farmers, breeders, shepherds, cooks, fishermen and artisans who have been part of the Terra Madre network for 20 years: “You”, he writes, “who carry on the cultivation and culture of food in full respect for nature, you who arrive from all parts of the planet representing communities that are often neglected. You represent a cultural biodiversity that must be brought to safety today”. Terra Madre therefore has, in Bergoglio’s words, a very important role, because “here there can be the sharing of problems and solutions, here new scenarios of hope for humanity can be drawn”. From the Terra Madre stage Carlo Petrini, founder of Slow Food, wanted to thank Pope Francis: “the Pope emphasized the uniqueness of Terra Madre, finding connections that starting from agriculture reach the environment, biodiversity but also migration and wars. We are called to change the paradigm”, Petrini added, “the key words must be cooperation, dialogue, sharing, responsibility and food education. In 20 years of Terra Madre, more than 40,000 delegates have met in Turin: people who, thanks in part to the exchange of ideas in this city and this region, have then implemented tangible projects in their territories. We are an extraordinary assembly that, edition after edition, will have to become even more politically representative, to give this multitude of people the right dimension”.
In Pope Francis’ message, according to Petrini, “the social and political contents are extraordinary, they make us think and they will make the delegates think as well. They demonstrate a systemic vision that few politicians at the planetary level have: this document will have to be analyzed and shared among all of us and I hope also with local political realities. It is a reflection that marks the uniqueness of this event, which welcomes more than 100 indigenous realities scattered around the planet. Cultural biodiversity is an important element, which says no to religious or political homogenization”. “Here”, Petrini continues, ”thanks to the exchange of ideas, the extraordinary network of more than 6,000 village gardens was born, guaranteeing food for at least 1,000 to 1,500 people each, and then the overcoming of dairy farming only with pasteurized milk. Working with raw milk has led to the development of a biodiversity that fills one with pride. Eliminating producers and replacing them with traders, or pitting farmers against environmentalists is not good: the reality we face is one of environmental disruption, the likes of which has never happened in human history. They know it well in the Philippines or in other areas of the world. Politics needs to engage dialectically with grassroots realities. Such an assembly will have to become even more politically representative; we need to give the right political dimension to this multitude. We cannot tolerate elements of injustice. We must also sanction that this biennial meeting will always be held in Turin, and no fair in the world will be able to create a network with these characteristics, that is, not only good products, but the presence of 3,000 delegates representing millions of people. We also need to ensure that young people have a driving role and not a dependent role. The big bet, even as Piedmont, is to make sure that the work goes forward and that generational change generates strength. We need to stand side by side and adopt an approach of dialogue and sharing. In today’s crisis context, the logic of competitiveness no longer pays, the stakes are high and require a paradigm shift, based on cooperation, dialogue, sharing, responsibility and food education”, Petrini concludes.
Also on stage at “Terra Madre” was Barbara Nappini, president of Slow Food Italy, according to whom “we are animals among animals, we are the food we eat that comes from the earth. The dominant food system is hinged on profit: it is time to abandon this approach, to embrace one finally hinged on life. We ask politics to facilitate the integration of human activities into the ecosystems that host us: we need choices that look not to the next electoral round, but to the next centuries”.
Precisely in order to put at the center of global political agendas the value of food, a central element in ensuring fundamental rights for all human beings and a key to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals set by the United Nations, Slow Food has launched, in recent days, ten proposals to the leaders of the G7 Agriculture, underway on the island of Ortigia, in Syracuse. From support for those companies that produce according to agroecological practices to the request for the inclusion of food education in the classroom, from food security and sovereignty to the fight against waste and regulation of GMOs, but also policies on respect for animals on farms, reshaping the dynamics of the food chain, support for fishing activities and the reduction of “disposable” packaging.
This year’s “Terra Madre Salone del Gusto” claim is “We are Nature” to turn the spotlight on the need for a new relationship with nature, through food, the most powerful element that brings us back to the earth. The event is organized by the “Chiocciola”, City of Turin and Piedmont Region, under the patronage of the Ministries of Agriculture, Tourism, Environment and Energy Security, Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and Italian Trade Agency (Ice). Today, for the first time, it will open exclusively for buyers and operators who will be able to meet the 600 leading producers of the Italian and international market. The theme is a choice of the future. Because “when it becomes a commodity, when it enters the logic of consumption and profit, food is bad: for health, for the environment, for the climate. Responsible for 35% of greenhouse gas emissions, the food system consumes much of the available fresh water, pollutes land, water, air, destroys biodiversity. It wastes a third of what it produces and feeds unjust supply chains, which in the name of profit tolerate hunger, misery, exploitation, slavery, deaths on the job. A system in which almost everyone loses for the benefit of the very few”, as Barbara Nappini reiterated.