By Ande Finley and the Lopez Locavores.

Within the first hour, Kim Bast, Todd Kegerreis, and Ben Kercsmar met a couple from Sri Lanka who were organizing a cooperative for 1,000 farmers, a college student from Minnesota recording a radio program, and an East Coast specialist in sustainable fisheries.

“Everywhere we turned we had something in common with the person next to us,” Kim said.

In October of last year, these three Lopezians spent four life-changing days in Turin, Italy at Terra Madre 2010, a global collective of food communities, first organized by Italian journalist, Carlo Petrini in 2004.

The seeds for Terra Madre were planted in the 1980’s when Petrini noted “our food is eating us” as he saw farmland destroyed by development and mismanagement, sweeping away livelihoods, and degrading environment and health. Concerned by this widespread devaluation of food and its producers, he founded the International Slow Food movement.  Slow Food chapters spread into over 150 countries dedicated to the opposite of fast food and fast life — savoring what we eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the rest of the world.

So what brought these Lopezians to Italy?

Kim, Todd, Ben and Jean Perry of Vortex Cafe, all share the same devotion to local, sustainable food production, though each approaches the goal uniquely.

Jean also applied to attend Terra Madre, but was unable to make the trip.

Kim and Todd operate Windy Bottom Farm proving “that you don’t need to be a full-time farmer or have access to lots of space to adequately feed yourself and others.” With goats and chickens providing milk, eggs, and manure, farming is done without chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers. Kegerreis’ passion is his 11 varieties of garlic. Kim, a trained chef, caters using food from her garden. Kim and Perry are board members of the Lopez Locavores and have cooked 24 meals for the “Evening Meals at School” since its inception in 2008.

Ben is the proprietor of Northfield Farm where he raises sheep, turkeys, chickens, and ducks. Believing that healthy pasture equals healthy livestock, his animals are grass-fed through a system of rotational grazing. Stock dogs move the sheep gently and all livestock are slaughtered on site via the Island Grown Farmers Cooperative, of which he is now board president.

In 2004, the first Terra Madre brought together 5,000 farmers, fisherfolk, shepherds, and nomads, giving a voice to the often-marginalized people who produce food for the rest of us.

At Terra Madre 2006, cooks and educators swelled attendance to 9,000 and in 2008, musicians, natural fiber producers, and students were added to the list of invitees. Today the Terra Madre network encompasses 1,600 food communities from 153 countries, what Petrini has come to consider, “the largest food multinational in the world.”

Kim attended Terra Madre 2008 and jumped at the opportunity to return to Turin with a larger contingent from Lopez.

“Imagine a lunch line with thousands of people speaking different languages but the setting is peaceful and cooperative,” Kim said.  “I am convinced that we could solve a lot of the world’s problems, if we actually sat down and broke bread together.”

Find out more about these Lopezians’ adventures in Italy on Saturday, June 18th, 7-9 p.m. at the Port Stanley School for the first Lopez Locavore fundraiser – Terra Madre: Local Food on a Global Scale.  The evening starts with a short film describing Terra Madre and slides highlighting their trip and a discussion of the sustainable future of food.  Locavores will also offer Italian finger foods, a no-host bar of Italian wines, and an opportunity for the community to donate and support their local mission as part of this global phenomenon.