A few hours after the conclusion of the fifth edition of the Food Journalism Festival in Turin, the appointment is confirmed as one of the most important national events on food issues, which has attracted the shadow of the Mole, in the new location of the Lingotto Congress Center. , about 1200 Guests, including journalists, communicators, medical-scientific professionals, experts, representatives of food companies. The next one will take place in Turin on 25-26-27 February 2021.
“There is no event worldwide that has this formula - comments the creator and director of the Massimiliano Borgia Festival. - The Festival connects to three days of full immersion journalists and communication professionals with those of research and food health and a representative cross section of the productive world. A confrontation is generated between them that fosters the exchange and enrichment of new ideas and projects, this year through 35 panels with 170 speakers. It is precisely this formula that has made it more and more an appointment that pays attention at national and international level. "
“Very important from a training point of view, they turned out to be 20 laboratories of experience - continues Borgia - which they recorded in total almost 500 attendance and represent the moment when journalists and communicators had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of specific food-related issues, which can be useful in carrying out their daily work. "
The "Parallel Festival", the one dedicated to B2B - the meetings between communication professionals and agri-food companies interested in communicating - has passed 160 sessions of meetings organized in a speed-date formula, crossing supply and demand between over 50 communicators and 20 companies. "We think we have made a contribution to promoting the culture of communication with B2B - explains the Festival Director - even among small entrepreneurs, artisans and farms, often far from these dynamics, who have been able to meet professionals here who are able to enhance the their stories and their products. "
Many topical issues addressed during the 35 thematic panels with 170 speakers: from the battle of labels to case studies of information on food and health, from the challenges of food and wine tourism to investigative journalism in the food sector, from new trends such as food delivery
This year the Festival wanted to give recognition to journalists who distinguished themselves for their particular commitment in the dissemination of food issues. The CAREER DISH has been delivered to: Mara Filippi Morrione, wife of Roberto Morrione, Rai investigative journalist who passed away in 2011, to whom the homonymous prize on investigative journalism was named; Charles Octavianor, 40 years of experience, also in the direction of specialized magazines such as Il Gambero Rosso and Le Vie del Gusto; Gerardo D'amico, on Rai since 1999, with a great experience on nutrition and health issues; Bruno Gambacorta, creator and conductor of Eat Parade, weekly TG2 column dedicated to "drinking well, eating healthily"; is Luca Ferrua, editor-in-chief of La Stampa's Turin Chronicle, passionate and food and wine expert and author of "The men of the stars", a collection of interviews with starred chefs.
Great attention paid to the Festival by local and national media, thanks to issues with a strong social impact, such as the need to reduce food waste and, in particular, that related to consumption outside the home, a growing trend in the next ten years. Just from Turin, two weeks before the Festival, a provocative started petition, launched by the organizers on the Change.org platform, to ask for the obligatory nature of the Food Bag - a container suitable for the transport and storage of food ordered in the restaurant and not consumed - to be made available in all public establishments and canteens. An appeal which in just two weeks has collected over 13.500 signatures.
The Festival was also noted for the presence of popular characters such as Chef Rubio, to the century Gabriele Rubini, who after leaving the TV told the Festival, through an exclusive interview with the Director Massimiliano Borgia, his four-month journey between Sri Lanka, Iran and Gaza.
The Turin demonstration was also the place where for the first time it was possible to quantify the impact that food issues have on information with precise data. Thanks to the collaboration of the Food Journalism Festival with L'Eco della Stampa, the most historic Italian media monitoring company, the first report on the presence of food in the media was produced, commented by Guia Beatrice Pirotti, SDA Bocconi professor and coordinator of the Master of Management in Food & Beverage. The research made it possible to find that on the media there is more talk about food than politics and in 2019 alone there were over 1,3 million publications on food topics.
“We knew that in the media these issues often keep the bench, but having precise data on the phenomenon will allow all colleagues and communication professionals to have a better awareness of the responsibility that we all have when we communicate food issues. Because food is not only a primary sustenance, but it is health, culture, lifestyles, economy, politics and much more. - concludes Massimiliano Borgia - We would like to be more and more a place available to the whole world of information and the scientific communities that deal with the delicate food issue, a place for meeting, exchanging opinions, ideas, projects, between different worlds that have the common goal of improving the quality of information to citizens. "
