In less than 48 hours I’ll be on a plane to JFK then Milan, Italy for my first Terra Madre Salome del Gusto in nearby Turin. This will be my first time abroad without my wife and kids, and my first international travel in over a dozen years.
Terra Madre is a massive food and social justice conference sponsored by the Turin and Piedmont governments and Slow Food.
I will be one of ~200 US delegates out of ~3000 delegates, and there will be hundreds of thousands of visitors to sample food and drink from around the world and to hear about activities to create good, clean, and fair food for everyone.
I have intentionally not read too much ahead of time about the experience, yet I have a number of events already lined up with plenty of time to be flexible in between.
As a sponsored delegate by Slow Food USA a host family had been arranged for me in a nearby town about an hour’s drive away as well as daily transportation to and from Parco Dora, the main gathering site. I’m unsure if I’ll be able to explore Turin during this trip or if it will be solely focused on the event. I’m trying to go with the flow (which is difficult given the typical hecticness of parenting and work).
My main focus of this first trip is listening and learning. I was invited to join the newly launched Slow Beverage initiative, so I’ll be bringing some fantastic San Diego agriculturally- and sustainably-minded beer to pour at the “Meet Slow Beverage” event in the Slow Food North America booth on Thursday.
I’m also looking forward to trying a variety of beers, ciders, meads, spirits, wines, and other fermented beverages, and to learn of the traditional production processes from the producers. I’m also going to eat my weight in cheese, pasta, and mushrooms.
I’ll be writing short blog posts daily and posting regularly on Instagram, so please follow along.
#terramadre2024 #slowfood #slowbeer #slowbeverage #sdbeer #sensoryscience #culinaryhistory
Mural Brewing 
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