Black Rootz at Terra Madre Reflections

8 hours ago

5 min read

What can we learn when we bring together people who are rethinking how we grow, share and access food? In September, members of Black Rootz travelled to Turin, Italy, for Terra Madre Salone del Gusto, an international gathering organised by Slow Food that celebrates biodiversity, sustainable food systems and the communities working to protect them. This year’s theme, Biodiversity – Be Diversity, explored the connections between food, culture and the natural world.

For the Black Rootz team, the festival was an opportunity to connect with growers and food communities from across the world and partake in knowledge exchange. We spoke to members who attended to hear about their experiences. Here, they share their reflections in their own words.

Group of smiling people with red lanyards pose outdoors in front of a colorful Slow Food banner. — *Black Rootz Team at Terra Madre*

Joy at Terra Madre Festival

I'm Joy. I'm one of the volunteer growers here at Black Rootz. And I went to Turin for the Terra Madre Slow Food Festival. For me, I went to obviously see a new country I've never been to but to see what other people in the food industry are doing because we're growers, but there were people who work policy in the food industry.

There were people that worked in, like, manufacturing, production, and the factory kind of side. It's just interesting to see a diverse collection of people in one space.

What did it look like day to day?

J: We tried to attend a workshop each morning, often a talk. I think we went for a nature, biodiversity and spirituality talk, and then in the afternoon maybe have some lunch, walk around, and see the stalls in the city centre.

Some people were selling their goods, cheeses and chocolate and their exotic foods. And then we’d go for another workshop, maybe a tasting workshop or kombucha workshop. There were many, many different workshops, and then we would have a chill evening, dinner and talk with other people.

What was your highlight?

J: For me, I think the highlight was seeing people from the global majority in Italy. There were people from South America, people from Kenya, and people from the Philippines. There were so many. There were some Nigerian people as well – my family. Yeah, it was just really nice to see that people are doing things in all parts of the world, all for the same cause, but in their many different ways.

Tourists stand in a sunlit brick courtyard with ornate historic walls and arched doorway under a clear blue sky.

Jojo’s Reflections on Terra Madre Festival

Hi, I'm Jojo. I'm one of the trainee growers for Black Rootz. We've just been to Turin for the Terra Madre Slow Food Festival. I was really excited to go because it was really nice to connect with other growers, organic growers, and sustainable growers – people that work in sustainable food all over the world.

You can often feel like when you're doing something that's slightly different from the mainstream, quite isolated or like it's a small community of people, for example, in Harringay, that are focused on organic growing and sustainable food systems. So being able to meet so many people all over the world who are also working with the same goal and doing the same thing was so inspiring and such a nice way to expand your network and give you fuel to come back here and continue to contribute, knowing that you're amongst so many other people who are doing the same thing.

What did it look like day to day?

J: There's a lot of early mornings and late nights. The conference has such a packed schedule, which was so nice because I think it had something for everyone. I really enjoyed some of the highlights. There was a youth section of Slow Food, and they put on events particularly that considered under-35s and their experiences globally of growing and food movements. It was really nice to hear what issues people face in different parts of the world and within different types of growing spaces.

We also went on a run, I think around the city, which was really fun, and then there was a coffee rave after, where everyone was getting really hyped on caffeine. There were amazing DJs from the countries where they had brought the coffee beans from. They gave everyone Brazilian coffee as a DJ from Brazil performed, and they gave everyone Peruvian coffee as a DJ from Peru was on.

That was really cool to see how food and music and the energy of creation are in so many different mediums. It doesn't just have to be growers. It's the consumer and people producing music with the energy that they get from the food. It's all part of the same cycle.

Busy indoor market with shoppers browsing nuts, jars, and wine bottles under a high metal roof, warm lively atmosphere

Kellly on the Cacao Ceremony and Land Justice Insights from Terra Madre

Hi, my name is Kelly, and I went to Terra Madre for the 2026 event to connect with local growers and people from all over the world who care about the Slow Food movement and creating a better world for us all to live in.

And what did your day-to-day look like?

K: Day-to-day, we gathered in groups in the morning and discussed what we were going to do. Sometimes we split off and went to different workshops and events that would talk about land justice, food growing, different communities, the way different communities grow food, dealing with access to land and caring for land.

I went because I was more interested in land justice and what different communities all over the world are doing to empower themselves by having rights to land.

What was your highlight of the trip?

K: My main highlight of the trip was connecting with lots of different communities from all over the world and sharing really meaningful moments with them on why they are there and why they care so much about the Slow Food movement and land justice.

I met two amazing women from the Philippines who grow cacao, and it was so meaningful to me to meet with these women because I'd stopped doing cacao ceremonies myself because I didn't know the source of the cacao. I met these women in a way that was just really synchronised, and it's like they came into my life to help with the healing of heart opening our hearts more to what we're really doing in this world, why we're here.

We basically met and agreed that we would hold a cacao ceremony together, and they came over to our apartment and showed us how to create a cacao ceremony, their experience with growing it, and how they process it. When we were doing it, there was a real sense of love, care and understanding of why we're in this movement together.

Six smiling adults take a selfie in a leafy park, wearing red lanyards; sunny, cheerful group moment.

Jayden’s Terra Madre Festival Reflections

Hi, my name is Jayden, and I went to Terra Madre. It was very interesting, and I would like to think that it was very lovely, with a lot of different cultures there.

What does your day-to-day look like?

J: Our Airbnb was about 15 minutes from the centre, so we would usually wake up nice and early and try to make it to at least one or two of the morning tours.

If we didn't mind our breakfast in the house, which is our most important meal of the day, especially at the festival, we would either go to one of the local restaurants that were there or visit one of the food stalls. When you go to Terra Madre, with all the international food, you have to try some of it at some point in the day.

Then, whenever we had a little bit of a break during the afternoon, some of us would either explore some of the different vendors around the site or explore the city.

And what would you say was your highlight?

J: I'd say my highlight was getting to spend time with the whole entire group and getting our pictures taken. That was also a highlight. I also liked getting to see the museum. Overall, I'd definitely do it again!