Friday May 31, 2019, 3 pm | Pollenzo, Sala Rossa Albergo dell’Agenzia
May 31, 2019, the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo will confer an honorary degree on Vilda R. Figueroa Frade, Cuban chemist and researcher and advocate for agricultural development projects, for food conservation, and for the safeguarding of the culinary and agricultural heritage of her island.
Each year, the University of Gastronomic Sciences awards an honorary degree to an individual who, thanks to his or her influence and consideration, has left a mark on the world of gastronomic culture with a sustainable approach, following Slow Food principles. In past years, the honorary degree has been conferred upon individuals such as Bruno Giacosa, Enzo Bianchi, Ermanno Olmi, Michel Bras, Michael Pollan, and Alice Waters.
Born in 1941, Vilda Figueroa Frade graduated with a degree in Chemical Sciences from the University of Havana, worked at the Instituto de Cienca Animal, where she was the founder and director of the Biochemical Division and then director of research programs. She then became the director of research at the Instituto de Investigaciones Porcinas, and then was the head of a national scientific program dedicated to animal nutrition of the Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment. She also works as a consultant for FAO and GEPLACEA (Grupo de Países Latinoamericanos y del Caribe Exportadores de Azúcar). She can claim innumerable scientific publications on the theme of animal nutrition and has participated in various scientific and technical missions in Latin American countries, in the Caribbean, in Canada, and in Europe.
A member of the Cuban Academy of Sciences, she has received multiple awards and recognition for her scientific work. Vilda Figueroa Frade, together with José A. Lama Martínez, is furthermore a founder of the Movimiento de la Agricultura Urbana y Suburbana Familiar, advisor for the Conservation of Food program, and was also a founding member of Slow Food Cuba in 2006. Her work of greatest social value and largest impact, however, is the Proyecto Comunitario Conservación de Alimentos, Condimentos y Plantas Medicinales, created together with José A. Lama Martínez.
Vilda Figueroa Frade will receive the honorary degree precisely for her tireless contribution to improving the quality of food in Cuba.
With the Proyecto Comunitario Conservación de Alimentos, Condimentos y Plantas Medicinales, she has in fact worked to spread bottom-up practices of food conservation through educational workshops, empowerment of the members of various involved communities, and spreading themes of gastronomy and the food and agricultural industry through publications and television programs.
The University of Gastronomic Sciences has decided to award her the honorary degree in the context of the Coltivare e Custodire Festival, an event created by the Ceretto Winery.
The Ceretto Winery and the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo share deep roots within the territory of the southern Piedmontese hills, but also an outlook towards the world. There are many shared traits that unite these two organizations: the same shared value for the land, the importance of agricultural work, attention to sustainability, respect for the landscape, and attention to traditional practices.
Festival Coltivare e Custodire 2019 >
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