PRESENTATION OF THE BIG PICNIC PROJECT

Experts from the University Botanic Gardens presented the BIG PICNIC Project during “The Future of Local Foods” Conference.

On February 22, 2017 in Plovdiv was held the AGRA Fair with the participation of a number of producers of both craft foods and geographically significant foods. The event was part of the “LocalFood.bg Network” Project – an incubator for startup micro businesses in the sphere of foods, and a catalyst for change”. Slow food Bulgaria, the Ministry of Agriculture and Foods, Agro TV and etc. are all partners in the project. At the farmer’s market where the “Big Picnic: Big Questions – Engaging the public with Responsible Research and Innovation on Food Security" was presented, the specialists from the Botanic Gardens exchanged experience and ideas with producers, distributors, university lecturers and fans in connection with the challenges in the sphere of food security.
During the Conference there were presented the European experience in connection with the conservation and popularization of local foods, the requirements in terms of the safety of the foods, and the perspectives for the development of the sector.
Gavril Gavrilov from Local Food underlined the significance of promotion at the inception of new businesses, and provision of expert assistance. He pointed out that there still does not exist an appropriate legislature in this direction which is could create good prerequisites and reduce the regulations, so that young people would be able to enter the market more easily.
Among the lecturers were Momchil Nekov – Member of the European Parliament and initiator of the “Let’s Protect the Bulgarian Taste” Initiative, Marina Brakalova – Head of the “Agriculture, Foods and Fisheries” Sector in the Permanent Representation of Bulgaria in the European Union, Dr Desislava Dimitrova – Coordinator of “Slow Food” in Bulgaria, associate professor of botany at the Institute on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research at the BAS and others.
At the forum was also held a discussion between the experts and the business representatives on the topic of management of quality of foods in microenterprises, requirements and tendencies in securing the safety of foods. The producers shared the experience of the successful microbusinesses in the Agriculture and Foods sectors.