It is well known that one of the priorities of the program of the progressive government of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria is food sovereignty. This is a concept established in 1996 at the summit of the World Food Organization (FAO) that is defined as the right of people to implement their own sustainable policies and strategies for the production, distribution and consumption of food based on small and medium production.
This is essential in an archipelagic territory like the Canary Islands, both to curb dependence on the outside world and to reduce the tremendous emissions caused by the importation of food and supplies. Also due to the positive externalities that the primary sector has in the establishment of population in the rural environment, in the creation of employment, in the prevention of fires, in the care of the landscape, in the preservation of traditions or in providing quality food.
An important part of food sovereignty policies involves direct support to the sector, improving its competitiveness and increasing the income of the rural world. The Government of the island does this through subsidies, aid, training, training or support to face the energy transition and integrate renewable energies in farms, which also results in a decrease not only in emissions, but also in costs of rising and volatile energy prices.
But in addition to all this, there is a line of work that has proven essential to increase the production and consumption of our local products: their promotion, so that both the local population and the millions of visitors we receive each year know our products and appreciate its extraordinary quality.
With this objective, the “Gran Canaria I Like” program was launched to improve the positioning of the island's agri-food sector, which is not only reduced to the primary sector, but also to the agro-industrial sector and of course to gastronomy, which without a doubt is in the best moment in its history, with a consolidated presence of our establishments and chefs in all the prestigious guides.
In this sense, Gran Canaria will host, in just a few weeks, a series of national and international events of reference for the agri-food sector. Last Monday, the III International Cheese Forum was inaugurated, a biennial meeting that turns the island into the world capital of artisanal cheese for two days. This is an opportunity to publicize the work carried out for decades by ranchers and cheese makers who, with their effort, dedication and passion, have managed to strengthen the primary sector, improve the economy of rural areas and protect the natural environment, as well as making Gran Canaria a great tourist destination in the gastronomic field. This destination has been strengthened in recent years and has made us today occupy a leading place in the entire Spanish territory.
And Gran Canaria is one of the island territories in the world that produces the greatest number of different cheeses, such a powerful and differentiating asset in a world in which tourist destinations are increasingly standardized and competing more and more among themselves. And it is very important, therefore, that it makes us unique, that we look for what identifies us, what distinguishes us and I believe that cheese is one of those differentiating, extraordinary elements that we have to enhance and differentiate.
At the end of the month, the first edition of TERRAE Gran Canaria will take place, an international rural gastronomy meeting that will bring together 20 specialized journalists and almost 40 local, national and international chefs on the island. It is organized by the same company in charge of Madrid Fusión and San Sebastián Gastronomic, the two most influential gastronomic congresses in the world.
More than 40 rural chefs from different countries, most with Michelin stars, will meet in Gáldar, Arucas, Agaete and Guía to share concerns, projects and experiences. Likewise, chefs from the peninsula and the island will cook different preparations to open the Congress in a popular day on April 28 in the Plaza de Santiago de Gáldar, a way to transcend the strictly professional sphere and involve the general population in the importance of gastronomy as a driver of development and even transformation of rural environments.
TERRAE is an important step in the objective of positioning Gran Canaria as a purely gastronomic territory, as well as progress for the Gran Canaria Me Gusta program, which already has an investment of more than 2 million euros. This program is one of the greatest examples of success, since having started from scratch, today Gran Canaria has 23 restaurants with recognition in the two gastronomic guides and 6 Michelin stars.
The objective is for Gran Canaria to gradually become the epicenter of the global movement that defends the territory, identity and sustainability, while increasing the professional awareness and open-mindedness of the chefs of Gran Canaria through of knowledge of experiences in other parts of the world.
And of course, from April 19 to 21, the star event of this program will take place, the Gran Canaria Me Gusta Fair, which will celebrate its 11th edition at its best. Last year's edition closed with a record of 10.000 visitors and almost 60 exhibitors, all of them offering products from our island. This year 81 companies and 19 municipalities in Gran Canaria will participate.
As we see, the promotion of our local products is a successful strategy to promote the sustainable development of rural environments and the island as a whole, with multiple economic, environmental and social benefits. Furthermore, its scope transcends the primary sector and extends to agribusiness and gastronomy, generating an ecosystem with a great capacity for generating employment, innovation and well-being.
