{"id":11801,"date":"2016-06-07T12:19:58","date_gmt":"2016-06-07T12:19:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/new.igcat.org\/?p=11801"},"modified":"2016-06-29T10:03:09","modified_gmt":"2016-06-29T10:03:09","slug":"igcat-expert-jury-visit-to-galway-west-of-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/igcat.org\/fr\/igcat-expert-jury-visit-to-galway-west-of-ireland\/","title":{"rendered":"Galway, West of Ireland’s food producers win the jury’s hearts"},"content":{"rendered":"
IGCAT international experts \u2013 Dr. Diane Dodd (Spain), Ilona Sares (Finland) and Davinia Galea (Malta) \u2013 visited Galway, West of Ireland<\/a> between the 24 and 26 May 2016, to monitor the initial take-off and progress of the programme since its successful bid to host the European Region of Gastronomy in Galway, West of Ireland in 2018.<\/p>\n The jury visited many local food producers and met with the Steering Committee, the wider stakeholder group,Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology<\/a> (GMIT) and the Galway 2020 team, bidding to become the European Capital of Culture.<\/span><\/p>\n The Jury were impressed with all the projects that they witnessed and discussed on the visit. In particularly they were impressed with the level of local and innovative food production,the strong relationships between the institutions and the producers, as well as between the producers themselves. The level of entrepreneurship of many within Galway to innovate and develop new food products using local produce is an area that Galway is managing exceptionally well.<\/span><\/p>\n The full jury report will be presented and discussed at the next European Region of Gastronomy Platform meeting in Aarhus, 20 June 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n Galway 2018 is illustrative of a European Region of Gastronomy, given that it has its origins in the role of agricultural landscape linked to food production and aims at:<\/span><\/p>\n The European Region of Gastronomy Platform and Award<\/a>\u00a0aim to contribute to better quality of life in European regions, by highliting distinctive food cultures, educating for better health and sustainability and stimulating gastronomic innovation.\u00a0IGCAT\u00a0<\/a>(International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism) organises the award with the support of European insitutions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\nGalway 2018 invites food lovers to engage in this interesting region, to discover and contribute to a positive international image of Irish food. Food tourism is on the rise, having huge potential to move tourism away from the city centre and into rural areas where it could help support sustainable income for farmers, small hoteliers and local producers.<\/span><\/p>\n