President Ollanta Humala opened Peru’s premier and foremost food festival "Mistura" in Lima on Thursday, praising the labor of farmers and their products' potential in the global stage and highlighting the event which celebrates friendship among foodies from around the world.
The head of the Peruvian State attended a ceremony to officially open the 7th annual edition of Latin America’s largest gastronomy summit held at noon on the capital’s Costa Verde beach.
Last year’s edition attracted a record 24,000 foreigners, including 300 journalists and more than 20 world-renowned chefs who took part in the first-ever Gastronomical Encounter.
“Mistura goes beyond the simple concept of food. Peru not only produces minerals but also good food," said the Peruvian leader in his speech to celebrate the inauguration of the 2014’s edition
Likewise, Humala noted that this food festival may help to fight against chronic malnutrition in children. "If the private and public sectors join efforts, nutritious products can be brought to houses of the country's poorest families having malnutrition problems".
Humala also stressed that Mistura is a great opportunity to promote healthy food and combat junk food, which is why its administration promotes it.
"We have to fight against junk food, which has a low nutritional value. We have many native products that can help us protect our families' health," he said.
Mistura 2014's inauguration was attended by the Foreign Trade and Tourism Minister, Magali Silva; Environment Minister, Manuel Pulgar-Vidal; Agriculture Minister, Juan Manuel Benites and First Lady Nadine Heredia.
Mistura will be opening doors to the public from September 5-14 on the Costa Verde in the seaside district of Magdalena del Mar. Last year's festival attracted an estimated 350,000 visitors and organizers are expecting this year more than half a million people to celebrate Peru's food fiesta.
The theme of this year's festival is “Eat tasty, eat healthily, eat Peruvian” and throughout its ten-day run it will feature conferences, master classes, demonstrations, and tastings.
In addition, several contests will be carried out to honor the best young Chef, the best bread, the best pastry-maker, the best market ceviche, the best cau-cau and the best ‘combinado.’
The ‘Rocoto de Oro’ award will praise good practices in produce manipulation amongst rural men and women, while the ‘Teresa Izquierdo’ award will be given to the best small business initiative.
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