Mei Ram-ew (or Terra Madre, meaning mother earth) held in Meghalaya in December, gets its inspiration from the Slow Food movement and is modelled on the lines of the global Terra Madre festivals.
In the month of November, every year, the members of the farming Community of Chizami who are strongly rooted in their belief of God, seek to give thanks to their provider by offering up the best of their produce of their land in a religious ceremony.
On the of 30th October 2014, the NESFAS team including Phidarilin Uriah, Janak Preet Singh, Rahul Antao, Bibhudutta Sahu, Markus Rani and Wansalan Passah along with Phrang Roy, Chairman NESFAS, Sara Manetto, Programme Officer of The Indigenous Partnership, Rome, and Fashion Designer, Daniel Syiem, visited the International Fund for Agricultural Developement (IFAD) ofice with Miss Antonella Cordone, Senior Technical Specialist Indigenous Peoples And Tribal Issues, IFAD.
Melina Syiemlieh’s experience in Nagaland brought back to her, memories of the village where she grew, a once lush and biodiverse village like Sekrezu that was fed by nutrient rich soil. In contrast, the earth now resembles powdery dirt that ceases to support any type of plant ever since the arrival of the broom.
On 23rd October 2014 at Terra Madre, Turin, NESFAS was given the opportunity to be part of a conference on gardens according to slow food. Here experiences were shared by groups from all around the world on school gardens and urban gardens operating in respective regions.
The Terra Madre 2014 as documented by Tridip Mandal, Executive Producer at CNN-IBN. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekL_FpTRK1U&spfreload=10 (posted by IBN Live on YouTube)
