The second edition of the European Food Summit will take place in November

Following the advice of the World Health Organization and the strict measures taken by all different European countries, amidst the chaos we have all been living during these last days, we have decided to reschedule the second edition of the European Food Summit. It will be held in Ljubljana from 7^th to 9^th November. The original program of the event will take place if the epidemic situation will allow the organizer to execute the program in full. In the case of COVID-19 related restrictions, the organizer will adjust the program and the format of the event accordingly.

The highlight of the three-day event will be on Monday, 9^th November, at a full-day Symposium.  Under the baton of Ana Roš, the world's best chef, awarded two Michelin stars and the World Tourism Organization ambassador, as well as curator Andrea Petrini, who is considered one of the key players in gastronomy, the speakers with their stories will teach, inspire and encourage us to think and work towards a better and sustainable future.

One by one, we have contacted all the speakers from our program – the chefs, writers, wine makers, theorists, activists, journalists - and more than 90% of them have confirmed their presence in the fall, when we shall open our doors in Slovenia to attendants flying from all over the world.

7^th – 9^th November, that is five months from now. By then, things should be back to normal. But will they? Will the restaurants still be welcoming guests? Will the planes be taking off and landing regularly? Hopefully, the scare of the Big One will be behind us. For sure we shall still be healing our wounds, trying to learn how to recover, how to help the casualties and the little restaurants and artisans which have been severely hit by the pandemic.

Five months from now, we should have a clearer view, a more precise ethical stance on what happened. We believe in the power of words, in the free circulation of ideas and human beings - much more than just the circulation of goods. It is more important than ever to start listening and talking, debating and nourishing each other while sharing our experiences and trying to reboot our attitudes towards the world around us. In addition, to upgrade this second edition of the European Food Summit to a new sort of Agora where ideas float for a better understanding of the difficult times we all live in. Let us be deep and serious, but if we want to be as different as chef Luka Košir’s speech “How to be different” we better not forget a little dose of humor. Let us pay attention to what our speaker friends have to say, such as John Lanchester’s “Marx, Smith and Chicken McNuggets or the food industry the days of the late capitalism”, Lisa Abend’s “Margaret Atwood was right”, a dystopic take on the circus which the food system has become or Maria Canabal’s theatrical mise en scène on the forecasted end of patriarchy, “Yannicko Rex”. Let us be dead serious but also deadly fun. Times are hard and we deserve it.  We deserve to pay attention to Nicolai Nørregard’s tip on how to bypass the male toxicity (in the kitchens and in our lives), how to declare the war on cliché (also the title of a remarkable collection of essays that Martin Amis published in 2001) and join Alberto Landgraf and Nicolas Gill in their dual action to arms “Against storytelling”. It will bring unlimited pleasure to check on stage one of the most distinguished Canadian journalists, Marie-Claude Lortie, recently commissioned by the European Community to study the life and times of a small supermarket Planika in Kobarid. A village grocery, a community outpost, a local cooperative that has been striving against the tide for decades: what does it have to teach us all? Think local, act global. And that is exactly what we want to do at the European Food Summit: to reconsider our legacy, our common roots, our European identities.

In the aftermath of the outbreak, when COVID-19 might seem just a remembrance from far away, months after the unconcerted, isolated reactions of all the countries worldwide, shall we be able to inject some new life into our own European reason for being and belonging? Chef Ana Roš will present on stage “Us and then”, a survey on the recent past and the nowness from where she and we all stand. The idea of food at the center stage of our European Food Summit. But not only the food to fill your bellies and doze off. We rather aim at some Food for Thought, a much more balanced diet of Sustainable Thinking. To begin with – all together and anew.

It is time to bring more to the table. Join us!
Tickets for Symposium available on:www.foodsummit.eu.

More on www.foodsummit.eu. For any additional information and statements, we are available at the following e-mail address: [email protected].