The Olive: a plant of civilization

The historian Fernand Braudel described the plants around which populations and cultures developed as “plants of civilization.” The olive is a classic example for the Mediterranean.  

Its diffusion is the result of the labor of the generations who selected cultivars, shaped landscapes and developed techniques to process olives and produce extra virgin olive oil. The olive is at once a plant of civilization and an immense heritage. But it is also a sector in crisis, threatened by the spread of intensive plantings, by pathologies such as xylella, and by competition from poor-quality products. 

With its Slow Olive network, its guide to extra virgin olive oils, and its Presidia in Italy, Spain and Turkey, Slow Food is working to promote agroecological practices and promote truly “agricultural” oils that express the distinctive characteristics of cultivars and local areas.

Speakers: 

• Alessandro Gilotti, olive oil producer at Passo della Palomba, Todi, (Slow Food Presidium), Umbria. 
• Francesco Sottile, Slow Food International board member.
• Saad Dagher, oil producer, humanistic agronomist, palestinian agroecologist and spokesperson of the “Olives in Mazari Nubani” Slow Food Community in Ramallah.
• Alen Mevlat, olive oil producer and activist for the safeguarding of olive biodiversity in the Turkish Aegean.
• Elena Parrillo, Nata Terra, project of the social cooperative Osiris, which manages property confiscated from the Camorra. 

Moderator: 

• Monica Petronio, President of Slow Food Umbria and the Slow Olive network.

Free entry while seats last. We advise you to arrive 10 minutes before the event starts to ensure a place.

Terra Madre Salone del Gusto is in Parco Dora, Turin, from September 22-26, 2022, with over 600 exhibitors and a series of workshops, conferences and tastings that show how we can regenerate our planet through food. #TerraMadre2022 is a Slow Food event. Free entry.

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