The programme organised by the Italian Embassy in Berlin to mark the seventh edition of the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World is packed with events: this year it is devoted to “Conviviality, sustainability and innovation: the ingredients of Italian cuisine for the health of people and the protection of the planet”.
A panel on the issues of regenerative agriculture and the impact of new agricultural technology on climate change opened the events, organised in association with the Future Food Institute of Bologna, the Roma Tre University and Slow Food, and attended by Nina Wolff, President of Slow Food Germany. Italian Ambassador Armando Varricchio opened up the debate stating that “agriculture both forms the basis of Italian cooking and is an important area that is decisive in the fight against climate change”.
The Week of Italian Cuisine programme continued with an event devoted to Agritech start-ups. Along with a group of investors, ten Italian start-ups took part in a study-visit to Berlin involving meetings with government representatives and stakeholders on business opportunities for the start-ups in Germany, mentoring sessions with Italian founders and a tour of the accelerators in Berlin.
The Italian Cultural Institute social channels also hosted a virtual show called “Food Heroes” created by Slow Food and telling the stories of five virtuous characters from the Italian food and wine industry representing various symbolic professions in terms of their knowledge of sustainability, craftmanship and quality: a farmer, a fisherman, a processor, a cook and a shepherd. The exhibition intends to transmit a photograph of Italy as a place of excellent farm produce, a place of healthy eating that respects the planet.
The ‘week’ also gave the opportunity to launch a series of video lessons by the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo through which the Italian Embassy intends to introduce the identity and history of Italian cooking to the German public through typical products and recipes from the twenty Italian regions. Other events involved the Consulate network, the Italian Cultural Institutes and the Chambers of Commerce in the main German cities in association with Eataly, the former students of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, the Italian Academy of Cuisine, the Italian Cooks Federation and Association and the various local and Italian businesses present there.
