IGCAT attended the ExpAliments 2014 fair which took place on Saturday 18 October at the Campus de l’Alimentació of Torribera. This Food and Nutrition Fair was organized by the Campus de l’Alimentació of the University of Barcelona in collaboration with Santa Coloma de Gramenet’s City Council. It was the 5th edition of ExpAliments, which aims to promote local products and activities related to food, nutrition and gastronomy. In this context, food is a broad concept with many dimensions, from commodities linked to land and food, to the multiple forms of consumption, through various degrees of development, and not forgetting the influence of food on one’s health.
Several IGCAT associates went to ‘taste’ the atmosphere. This edition of the fair had its main focus on the influence of food and gastronomy on territorial cohesion and involved nearly a thousand people, bringing together various areas of the agri-food sector, including producers, restaurants, chefs, gourmets, researchers, associations and companies.
ExpAliments 2014 had spaces available for restaurants, hotel schools, producers and other stakeholders that develop innovative projects within the food sector, offering demonstrations and tastings of their products. The campus faculty and students acted as promoters of healthy eating, disseminating knowledge and principles of food safety. In addition, the research groups of the Institute for Research in Nutrition and Food Safety (INSA-UB) presented some of their projects to promote scientific vocations among the young audiences. The campus inaugurated a sensory analysis room equipped with a kitchen and ten individual test spaces. At ExpAliments 2014, the new room hosted a workshop on the sensory analysis of wine and food, open to the public.
The IGCAT team conversed with several students and local food producers and their was general consensus that it is a great initiative to build awareness about nutrition related health and safety as well as promote the gastronomy of the region.