More than 150 delegates from the Slow
Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network will gather at Terra Madre
Salone del Gusto 2026 in Turin, Italy, to share how
communities are protecting biodiversity, strengthening food
sovereignty and building resilience from the ground
up.
As climate shocks intensify, conflicts multiply
and biodiversity declines, Indigenous Peoples and local
communities are quietly building some of the most effective
responses to today’s food crisis. Yet while governments
spend an estimated US$540 billion each year supporting
agriculture, much of that investment still favours
production models that undermine the ecosystems on which
food security depends. At Terra Madre Salone del Gusto 2026,
more than 150 delegates from the Slow Food Indigenous
Peoples’ Network, supported by IFAD, the W.K. Kellogg
Foundation and Tamalpais Trust, will argue that the
solutions we need already exist, but remain chronically
overlooked and underfunded.
“Around the world,
Indigenous Peoples are doing far more than preserving
traditions. They are protecting biodiversity, defending
territories and keeping alive knowledge that offers
practical answers to some of the greatest challenges of our
time,” says Edward Mukiibi, President of Slow
Food. “Yet the communities nurturing these
solutions are often excluded from the decisions that shape
our food systems. If we want a future that is resilient,
just and biodiverse, Indigenous knowledge must move from the
margins of policy discussions to the centre of
decision-making.”
Voices from the
network
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Across continents, the delegates gathering at
Terra Madre share a common conviction: the food, climate and
biodiversity crises cannot be addressed without protecting
the relationships Indigenous Peoples have built with their
territories over generations. Their experiences reveal that
food sovereignty is not an abstract principle but a daily
practice, expressed through the defence of seeds, land,
knowledge and livelihoods.
For Dali Nolasco
Cruz, Indigenous Nahua leader from Mexico, that
work begins with communities themselves. Director of Slow
Food’s Indigenous Peoples Office in Abya Yala, she is member
of the Slow Food Board. A psychologist specializing in
Indigenous Peoples’ rights and international cooperation,
she has over 15 years of experience in community leadership
and global advocacy. She is the founder of Mopampa,
President of Timo’Patla Intercultural A.C., and was
recognized by Gastrolab in 2024 as one of Latin America’s
women driving change in gastronomy. At Terra Madre, she
brings this perspective to the discussion Land
and Peace alongside UN Special Rapporteur on the
Right to Food Sofía Monsalve Suárez.
“For
Indigenous Peoples, food has always been more than a
commodity. It carries memory, identity, language and our
relationship with the land. Every native seed we save, every
traditional food we defend and every young person who
chooses to remain connected to their community is an act of
resistance. At the same time, it is an act of
transformation, because it helps build a future rooted in
dignity, biodiversity and collective well-being”, adds
Dali.
Other delegates are present and involved
within the program. The connection between territory,
biodiversity and opportunity is equally central to the work
of Cielo
Lourdes Moshan Pérez, who represents
Indigenous communities in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico.
Her experience shows how agroecological food systems can
create livelihoods while strengthening environmental
stewardship and reinforcing cultural
traditions.
Similar questions emerge thousands of
kilometres away in northern Thailand, where Lee
Ayu Chuepa, a member of the Akha people and
founder of Akha Ama Coffee, has transformed coffee
production into a pathway for community self-determination.
His story highlights a challenge faced by farmers worldwide:
how to retain control over land, water, seeds and the value
generated through agricultural production in the face of
growing economic and market pressures.
For other
delegates, resilience is nurtured not only through farming
but also through the everyday practices that keep
communities connected to place. Made
Masak, an Indonesian nomadic cook, ethical
forager and founder of the Mawija Community Kitchen,
explores how foraging traditions, shared meals and
community-led food practices help sustain cultural knowledge
and strengthen the bonds between people and the ecosystems
they depend on.
This understanding of value beyond the
marketplace is echoed by Estephanie
Maya Sejas Ruiz, a Quechua delegate from
Bolivia. She sees cacao not merely as a commodity, but as a
way of supporting forest conservation, cultural heritage and
local livelihoods. At Terra Madre, she will present products
made from cacao husks, cacao butter and beeswax,
demonstrating how local knowledge can reduce waste, generate
income and create new uses for traditional resources while
remaining rooted in ecological and cultural
heritage.
The importance of safeguarding both
biodiversity and memory is reflected in the work of Rowena
Gonnay from the Philippines. Through her
efforts to protect Indigenous rice varieties, she is also
helping preserve the stories, languages, culinary traditions
and knowledge embedded within them. Her experience
underscores a reality shared by Indigenous communities
worldwide: when traditional crops disappear, entire systems
of culture and memory are placed at risk.
Food as
Living Knowledge
These stories do not end in the
field, the forest or the territory. At Terra Madre, they
also arrive at the table. In the No Borders
Kitchen, the event’s open cooking and workshop
space, Indigenous cooks, farmers and knowledge keepers will
show how food carries histories, relationships and
responsibilities across generations.
Raukura
Iritana Huata (Māori, Aotearoa New Zealand)
and cook Keoloha
Domingo (Kanaka Maoli, Hawaii) explores
Indigenous food sovereignty across Te Moana
Nui-a-Kiwa, the Great Pacific Ocean, tracing the shared
Polynesian roots that connect food, people and place, and
the responsibility each generation carries towards the
next.
From Nagaland,
in Northeast India, fermentation and smoking traditions take
centre stage through dishes featuring pork smoked with
axone (fermented soybean), perilla seeds and
Indigenous herbs, served with sticky rice and seasonal wild
greens, several of them recognised in Slow Food’s Ark of
Taste. Here, cooking is more than a culinary act: it becomes
a way of transmitting knowledge, protecting biodiversity and
keeping cultural traditions alive.
From the Margins
to the Centre of Food Policy
The experiences shared
at Terra Madre challenge one of the dominant assumptions of
food policy: that innovation must come from new
technologies, external expertise or large-scale
interventions. Across the Slow Food Indigenous Peoples’
Network, communities are already protecting biodiversity,
strengthening food sovereignty and building resilience
through approaches refined over generations. Their stories
demonstrate that some of the most effective solutions to
today’s crises are already within reach. The real question
is not whether these solutions work, but whether
governments, institutions and investors are prepared to
recognise Indigenous Peoples as leaders in shaping the
future of food. Because the future of food will not be built
by replacing traditional knowledge, but by listening to,
supporting and learning from the communities that have
safeguarded it for generations.
Useful Links for
Journalists
- Conference programme: https://2026.terramadresalonedelgusto.com/en/conferences/
- Speakers
and biographies: https://2026.terramadresalonedelgusto.com/en/speakers/ - Press
area (press releases, images and accreditation): https://2026.terramadresalonedelgusto.com/en/press/ - Terra
Madre Salone del Gusto 2026: https://2026.terramadresalonedelgusto.com/en/ - Biodiversity
– Be Diversity: https://2026.terramadresalonedelgusto.com/en/biodiversity-at-the-center/ - Slow
Food Participants’ Assembly 2026: https://www.slowfood.com/events/slow-food-participants-assembly-2026/
The
Slow
Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network is
dedicated to preserving, promoting, and celebrating
Indigenous Peoples’ food heritage and rights across all
continents. The primary goal is to safeguard these
invaluable food traditions from disappearing while honoring
the wisdom of ancestors.
The work of the Slow
Food Indigenous Peoples’ Network, together with the
participation of its delegates and the organization of the
Indigenous Peoples’ programme at Terra Madre Salone del
Gusto 2026, is supported also by the International Fund for
Agricultural Development, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and
Tamalpais Trust. Their support helps create Indigenous-led
spaces where communities can exchange knowledge, build
alliances and bring their perspectives into the global food
debate.
