Previously on OEF: https://commonfare.net/hr/stories/oltreconomia-festival-2019-lands-of-disobedience-part-i
Groups of people that wanted to show alternative to omnipresent injustice of existing economic system, gathered in Parco Santa Chiara, Trento Italy, from 29th of May to 2nd of June 2019. Festival “Beyond Economy” was organized for the 6th time as a parallel to the festival of Economia, that took place in the same town. It was an extremely joyous occasion filled with activists and enthusiasts that offered their free time to show what they believe in.
Save the bananas
There is no festival without a bar. People need to drink, especially in the (almost) summer time. That is why OEF had a very popular bar held together by, once again, volunteers that gathered profit for the next edition of the festival. There was also a Creperia de Frullateria with cakes made by locals offering their products for free, smoothies, humus and of course pancakes. They used fair trade bananas saved from cruelty of the big supermarkets. As it turns out, there is an organization saving fair trade and bio bananas thrown away by the big supermarkets because they are too ripe. When bananas start they journey from half way across the planet they are green in order to “survive” the trip, but when they come to their designated location there is a possibility that some of them are too ripe for the put up standards of supermarkets. That is where food store Nespola from Rovereto, Italy comes into play, offering to buy those lost bananas for the reduced price to avoid the food waste. The same bananas could been bought at the festival. 5 bananas 2,5 euros - deal.
Food first
Another very popular food stand was Biosteria that served bio, vegan and seasonal food. Chef Francesca explained that they want to reduce carbon footprint caused by the food production. They are also against mainstream veganism and vegan(green)-washing that at the end leads to the same thing as all other massive food trends. Capitalism is not on their agenda, because veganism without anti-capitalism does not demand change. Food production will still remain core business of supermarkets: “Even if they have vegan products, they are still a part of the problem.” That is why Biosteria is buying ingredients from smaller producers, they are using only Italian products: almonds and oils are from Sicily, for example. They are also using seasonal fruit and this year they opted out for couscous, rice and oats packed in bigger bulks and paper bags. Less plastic means less pollution.
Pizza for the French
One of the most popular places of the festival was Pizzeria Paratod@s. After all, it is pizza, but these ones were made by migrants. The project started in Verona, 4 years ago as a pizza making course for unemployed. Teaching program that is a part of the cooperation in a social center that has a theater, gym, event organization and a syndicate. When volunteers of the pizzeria visited refugees Balkan route, program started to focus on migrants coming to Europe in a search for a better life. As explained by volunteers Alberto and Julia, at the beginning they had to welcome migrants and contact them in order to gather their attention, but after a year no advertising was needed. Refugees wanted a place to hang-out. In most cases there are 200 people per refugee camp in Verona. Paratod@s program is teaching migrants how to make pizza by longtime activist Giorgio that trains them to work all over Europe. Most of them proceed on their journey to go to Germany or France. This teaching association is working as a Pizzeria only for special occasions as is the one of the festival where all income goes to the pizza makers. One of those special pizzeria events is organized once a month on their premises in Verona and is called Teranga after a Senegalese word that means “hospitality” or “welcoming generosity”. Even though the aim of the project is help, inclusion, education and human progress it does not receive any subsidies neither from Europe nor Italy. At the beginning they even had to hide their activities because of the lack of permissions to sell products. Now, they go around participating in the progressive, solidarity sharing events making pizzas but also teaching and educating every one of us.
