In food we trust
Though many of us recall our moms leading us by the hand into the kitchen - and we officially recognize them on Christmas Day or Easter Day for all those free cooking lessons - for many others, it was Grandma sharing her culinary know-how. While Mom was out working or at the gym, Grandma was demonstrating how to make the bread (if you are Albanian) "panzerotti" (if you're Italian), or the gulash (Gulyás if your roots are in Eastern Europe).
Likewise, Grandpas shared with us the love for #Rakia, #Cogniac, #Vodka, #Palinka, or #Wine.
The famous Italian tenor, #Albano #Carrisi sings in fact “Happiness is a piece of bread with a glass of wine”. I would add the good music too. Nothing is truer than this. Especially in this hard times. However, this is not the main point of this short opinion of mine.
What we all realised during these almost 50 days of isolation, is that we chose, our food, we cooked our traditional dishes. We were witness of the big crash between our sympathetic nervous system decisions and the decisions driven by the contemporary marketing. The first one, better known for its fight-or-flight response, has its roots in the primitive instinct of surviving. The second one is much more artistic, much more base on learned behaviours, UX designed.
The first one, find an answer in the traditions. For example, Albanian gjyshe (grandmas) swear by its powers. Have headache? #Cognac Skanderbeg. Menstrual pains? Cognac Skanderbeg. Feeling nervous? Cognac Skanderbeg. As the saying goes: “Cognac in small amounts is a medicine, in large amounts a remedy”.
(If you leave #Tirana for #Pristina, #Beograd, #Bucharest, #Budapest, you might have a meeting with the joyous pàlinka, slíva, ?liwka or schlivowitz . In Western Bohemia in the #Czech Republic, close to the German border, herbal liqueurs have thrived for centuries, including famous offerings from #Becherovka in Carlsbad and Fernet Stock from #Plzeň‐Bo?kov)
But following our thoughts, the other part of the nervous system, the parasympathetic one, responds better to the Agri-food and drink products, whose names are protected by the EU as #geographical #indications (GIs). This kind of #labelling, offers in modern times, a “clear economic benefit” for producers in terms of marketing and increased sales, according to a study published by the European Commission on Monday (20 April 2020).
This study collected metadata form 3,207 #GI protected products from across the EU, with a market value of €74.76 billion. It concluded that the sales value of a product with a protected name is on average double that for similar products without a certification.
#GIs are designed to protect the names of specific products to promote their unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as well as the know-how embedded in the region.
Definition of Geographical Indications in the European #Food #Law is ” Geographical Indications means name, symbol and or any other signs which is used for calling or representing a geographical origin and can identify the goods as originating in such geographical origin where the quality, reputation or other characteristic of the goods is essentially attributable to the geographical origin”.
These product names are then included in the EU system of #intellectual #property #rights, legally protecting them against imitation and misuse.
European Union also protects Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (#TSG), highlighting the traditional aspects of a product, such as traditional production methods or traditional composition, with no link to a specific geographical area. The sales value of agricultural products and foodstuffs labelled as #TSG were found to be worth €2.3 billion. Out of the 3,207 product names registered as either GI or TSG in 2017, 49% were wines, 43% agri-food products and 8% spirits drinks.
EU Commissioner for Agriculture, #Janusz Wojciechowski, said that European #GIs “reflect the wealth and diversity of products that our agricultural sector has to offer.”
“Producers’ benefits are clear. They can sell products at a higher value, to consumers looking for #authentic regional products,” he said. He added, “By protecting products across the globe, we prevent fraudulent use of product names and we preserve the good reputation of European agri-food and drink products. Geographical indications protect local value at the global level”.
To date, the EU has concluded more than 30 international agreements, which ensure the recognition of many EU GIs outside the EU and of non-EU GIs in the EU. A statement on the EU Commission website said that GIs represent a “truly European policy” which enables each EU country to produce products whose names are protected at EU level and “serve as flagships for the traditional culinary heritage of regions and as economic drivers for the national agri-food sector.
Still, as Ivana #Trump, used to say in an interview, “No plate is delicious as when I use Czechoslovak paprika, the one that my mother brings my form Czechoslovakia”. No GIs, or other shorting of intellectual property laws acronyms can blurry our autochthonous taste in food. In times like these, while listening the news on TV in the morning and speaking with our dearest ones, the bread, with goat butter and white cheese and fresh milk reflects only the local autochthone food, not that fancy one, posted on Instagram, in hashtag, imported and protected by the law.
In food we trust