Terra Madre ecosystems: highlands and coffee

In the episodes of the previous month we decided to learn more about the forest ecosystem and in particular forest people and land rights. This month instead we want to take you to the highlands. But instead of taking it very broad, we have decided to focus on one specialty that grows in the highlands… I am talking about coffee! Yes, the episode of today is entirely dedicated to coffee.

And we also have a very special host for this episode, who has carried out all the interviews and basically worked on the whole concept I am talking about Kumud Dadlani. Kumud is a child of Asia. She was born in Taipei, raised in Kuala Lumpur and currently she is settled in Bombay. In these countries food is a form of social interaction and this planted in her the seed for the interest in local food systems and in the culture that surrounds it.

Today Kumud is going to take you to a coffee journey in India, Rwanda, Mexico and Italy. You are going to dig into topics such as coffee agroforestry, specialty coffee and coffee tasting and also the brand-new project of the Coffee alliance of Slow Food.

So get yourself a warm cup of coffee and enjoy this episode!

Interviewees:

• Stephany Escamilla Femat & Gerardo Hernández Martínez run the cooperative El Cafecol in Veracruz, Mexico. Together they maintain the objectives of preserving the diversity of the forest, ensure stable livelihoods, develop programs to enhance the value of Coffee and work together with the government to change local policies around Coffee.
• Arshiya Bose, a social scientist from India who started Black Baza Coffee as a medium to help Coffee farmers to grow the plant in tandem with nature. She speaks about the biodiversity seen in India and the new definition of speciality Coffee. For her, the forest is represented in the cup.
• Arthur Karuletwa, hails from Rwanda. At his former job at Starbucks Coffee company where he was the Coffee Traceability Director, Arthur has worked on a program using block chain technology to give back and solidify the identities of Coffee growers. He further explains how the terroir can affect the flavour and sensory quality in a cup of Coffee.
• Emanuele Dughera, works for the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity as coordinator & as a spokesperson of the Africa and Middle East Office. Furthermore, he manages Slow Food actions, grassroots projects, food and educational activities, in the Southern African countries as well as Portuguese speaking countries in Africa. He speaks of a new project called Slow Food Coffee Coalition.

Project manager & host: Valentina Gritti Special host: Kumud Dadlani Composition, production & editing: Leonardo Prieto Dorantes Musicians: Percussions: Philip Kukulies; Mexican music: Tres Ríos: Pablo Rodríguez, Manu Pinzón, Patricia Mancheño, Leonardo Prieto: African music: Kabele bah, Paul Valdivia, Guillermo siliceo, Jorge whaley y Juan Domingo Rogel; maestro Gwagoro Keita; Indian music: Codarts Makam and Tala lessons.

This episode is realized in the occasion of the Slow Food event Terra Madre 2020: find the whole program on www.terramadresalonedelgusto.com Did you like this episode? Support our work and have access to extra material by becoming one of our patrons on http://patreon.com/join/slowfoodyouthnetwork/

Financed by the European Union. The contents of this podcast are the sole responsibility of the author and the EASME is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information contained therein.

A project by the Slow Food Youth Network