Elisabet Colomer, Matilde Grau or Cristina Martorell are names unknown to most, but their work in the food chain is essential. They are some of the farmers, ranchers and processors who nourish everyday cuisine and that prepared in large restaurants, but who often go unnoticed. It was not like that yesterday, on the second day of the Gastronomic Forum Barcelona, where more than fifty women from the Xarxa Productes de la Terra became protagonists.
In a packed auditorium, the Barcelona Provincial Council awarded them for the unique products they work with, such as the black pea from Berguedà and the rooster from Penedès. Also for doing excellent work even having to continually face obstacles and prejudices in a predominantly male sector. “My husband and I have a winery. We both run it, but the salespeople usually ask about him,” lamented Maria Font, from Can Morral del Molí (Ullastrell).
The meeting was also attended by the doctor in Political Science and sociologist Cristina Sánchez, who denounced how women who work in the primary sector must continually demonstrate that they are valid. “There are still professions for men and women,” she criticized, although she added that this trend is changing very little by little.
At the end of the event, other women spoke on stage. The Spanish chef of Moroccan origin Zineb Hattah, the first vegan chef to obtain a Michelin star in Switzerland, focused her presentation on the importance of working for sustainable restoration, one of the constants in each edition of the Forum. “For me it is a responsibility to use plant-based products, because they are much more beneficial for people and the planet,” she said. In the kitchens of this chef who has three restaurants in Switzerland, there is no shortage of seasonal and local ingredients, but neither is respect for the team. “The work environment must also be sustainable,” said Hattah, who tries to offer flexible schedules to her employees and promote her physical and mental health, in addition to promoting inclusion. “We accept people as they are. We don’t want to change them,” she said.
The Danish Kamila Seidler was another of the chefs who took the stage to defend a kitchen that respects the seasons and is based on kilometer zero products. But above all she emphasized the ability of gastronomy to change the world. “Before I was obsessed with perfection, but I learned that there are other things that are more relevant,” said Seidler, who was named Best Female Chef in Latin America in 2016 and has collaborated on numerous social projects such as Manq’a and Fair Fishing.
Xavier Pellicer, Jesús Sánchez, Poul Andrias, Nandu Jubany and Eugeni de Diego were other chefs who participated yesterday in the Forum with their talks and workshops, focused in this edition on cuisine committed to the environment and the preservation of biodiversity. The Foodture Sustainable Innovation Awards were also presented, and the best panettones in Spain of 2023 were recognized, which are made at Vallflorida Xocolaters.
