There are six destinations for the new study trips outside Europe for students on the three-year undergraduate degree course in Gastronomic Sciences at Pollenzo.
Latin America and Africa will be the focus of the trips, which will be based on meeting the local Terra Madre communities, learning about indigenous traditions and traditional skills and discovering new kinds of food production.
In South America, the students will visit two areas of Brazil as well as Argentina. In Central America, the destination is Mexico, while in Africa two groups will follow two different itineraries in Kenya.
Read on for more information about the regions and activities our students will be exploring during their trips.
In Southeast Brazil, the journey will start in São Paolo, at the historic Mercado de Pinheiros, before exploring the region’s agricultural and artisanal food production. The students will meet farmers and Slow Food activists, learning about wild herbs and other typical local products like Crioulo wild corn, extra-virgin olive oil, wine, coffee, mushrooms, cachaça, cheese, typical sweets and craft beer.
In the town of Tiradentes, the students will have a chance to immerse themselves in the local farmers’ market, while in Catas Altas they will sample a traditional wine made from the fermented fruits of the jabuticaba tree, typical of the Minas Gerais region. The last days will be spent in Belo Horizonte, studying the city’s history and cuisine.
A second group of students will instead head to southern Brazil. Their itinerary will take them from Itapecerica da Serra to Mandirituba and on to Canguiri, São Domingos, Porto Morretes, Rio Branco do Sul and Curitiba before finishing in São Paolo. During the trip, they will meet with food producers, farmers, artisans, beekeepers and chefs, learning about Moura pig farming and cured meat products as well as the production of tea, cachaça, bananas, coffee, fruit and chocolate. They will visit local communities and have a chance to get to know journalists, experts in Brazilian gastronomy and top chefs such as Michelin-starred Alex Atala, a guest at the Academic Tables in 2014, as well as taking part in tastings, workshops and cultural experiences that will teach them about the local history and heritage.
The third South American destination is Argentina, with a particular focus on the capital, Buenos Aires. Here the UNISG delegation will visit the historic neighborhoods of Palermo and La Boca, the Liniers livestock market (the second largest in the world), the San Telmo area and key places in the city center like Plaza de Mayo, the Cabildo, Café Tortoni and the Congreso Nacional. Thanks to local Slow Food coordinators, the students will have a chance to learn about the history and culture of the country, as well as its gastronomy and winemaking traditions.
After the capital, the group will move on to Ezeiza and then to Puerto Iguazú for a visit to the extraordinary Iguazú National Park and its famous waterfalls. The journey will continue to Puerto Rico in Misiones, where the students will visit biodynamic farms and yerba mate producers. In Aristóbulo del Valle they will meet the indigenous community of Mbya Valle Cuñapiru and stay in the homes of local producers. In this region they will study fish farming and the production of honey, tea and peanuts. This study trip has been made possible thanks to the collaboration of Maria Irene Cardoso and Perla Herro from the Slow Food Buenos Aires and Misiones convivia.
The last trip in the Americas will bring students to Mexico. There will be a particular focus on the country’s ancient culture and traditions, and the journey will start in Mexico City with a visit to the Museo Nacional de Antropología, where the students will learn about the gastronomy and cultural heritage of the country’s indigenous peoples. While in the capital the students will also take part in a seminar on prehispanic cuisine and meet the local Slow Food coordinators.
Among the meetings planned for the trip is one with UNISG alumnus José Carlos Rendon, leader of the Slow Food Del Bosque Convivium, to talk about the Mexican agricultural economy and the production of edible flowers and insects. In Tlaxcala, considered the capital of the tortilla, students will meet with local chefs. In San Juan Ixtenco they will visit the Museo del Pulque to learn about this traditional beverage, made by fermenting agave sap, while at the Soltepec farm they will see the milpa farming system in action, a cultivation method used in the Yucatán peninsula since Mayan times. They will also visit the Cafecol agroecological center, which specializes in coffee production.
In Cuetzalán, a lesson will be held at the Tosepan Kali cooperative on the production of honey, cinnamon and panela, a type of unrefined cane sugar typical of Latin America.
In San Pedro Cholula (Puebla), the students will meet anthropologist and chef Tim Knab and Monica Susa, director of the Gastronomy Department of the Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla (UPAEP). In Oaxaca they will visit the university and meet with Héctor Vázquez, the marketing manager of the Destilería Los Danzantes, who will introduce the students to the production of mezcal. The last days will be spent visiting the famous Puebla market and attending workshops on chocolate in Mexico City.
The destination for the other two trips is Kenya. One group of students will be based in the country’s central-northern regions and will start their adventure with a “slow” safari in Nakuru, Nyeri and Nyahururu. In Murang’a County, they will visit tea producers in Kandara; the Kenyan headquarters of Del Monte, which grows pineapples in the country, and various coffee producers. They will attend a class at Dr. Mwangi Organic Technologies, which produces organic and natural fertilizers. In Kirinyaga the students will visit Macadamiafans Ltd, dedicated to organic agriculture, before moving to Meru Herbs, where they will meet growers and producers of a wide range of organic products which are sold through fair-trade channels.
The next destination is Nanyuki, on the Equator, where the students will visit the Mount Kenya Organic Farming Africa organization. In Marioshoni they will travel into the forest to meet the Ogiek honey producers from the Slow Food Presidium. In Karirikania, near Lake Nakuru, the UNISG delegation will visit food gardens and producers of dried nettles, another Slow Food Presidium, as well as meeting Karunga wool weavers. In Kariandusi, at the Seed Savers Network, they will learn about the Kenyan seed industry and visit two seed bank communities.
The group will then move on to the Ndabibi Environmental Conservation Centre in Naivasha to learn about its activities before returning to Nairobi for a cooking class at the Yaya Centre and a visit to the Maasai Market.
The second group visiting Kenya will begin their trip in Narok, where they will meet with a Maasai community, then travel to Nakuro, Koriema and Baringo, where they will get to know local beekeepers. They will spend a day with Lake Baringo fishermen and fish sellers, immersing themselves in the lake culture, before moving to Molo where they will participate in sustainable agriculture lessons at the Baraka Agricultural College. The next stop is Olenguruone, where they will be visiting small-scale tea growers and the Kenya Tea Development Agency. In Webuye, the students will meet the community of producers from the Slow Food Nzoia River Reed Salt Presidium, then travel to West Pokot to meet the Slow Food Pokot Ash Yogurt Presidium producers.
Their journey will continue on to Nakuru then back to Molo where they will spend a day with producers from the Slow Food Mushunu Chicken Presidium, before visiting the Egerton University botanic gardens and Keroche Breweries. In Thika they will meet with small-scale coffee producers and visit the Thika Coffee Mills. The trip will come to a close in Nairobi, where the two UNISG groups will reunite.