Forum de France de l’Alimentation: international gastronomy on the menu!

A “World-scale” event according to the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs, one of the organisers of the Forum, this event was held at the Musée de l’Homme and on the Quai Jacques Chirac, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, a symbol of French excellence. Under the patronage of president Macron and the commitment of Grand Chef Guillaume Gomez, Ambassador for gastronomy, the world of cook, whether high-class of everyday cooking, gathered in Paris during this Forum accessible to all.

A mirror for global challenges of food

The Forum de France de l’Alimentation was first an opportunity to put forward the “commitment of all food professionals” playing a key role in the response to three major challenges, i.e. food security, climate change and global health.

As the ministry of foreign affairs stresses, many themes were talked about during these meetings to illustrate the themes in a more concrete way, ranging from “safe food for children to food security and global exchanges, and the place of women in gastronomy and sustainable food”. These themes were a “mirror of many modern global challenges” and were the subject of about 20 round tables and conferences which attracted 150 high level speakers, but also shows, workshops, guided tours, demonstrations and four thematic nights.

An international village of gastronomy

In addition to these one-time animations, the Forum joined a recurring event, the International Village of Gastronomy. The new edition of the Village, under the patronage of grand chef Guy Savoy, was the perfect place where the larger audience could meet-up and “professionals from horizons as rich and varied from diplomacy”, but also representatives of hotels and restaurants, publishing houses, and scientific research, stakeholders of food and sustainable development, French and international associations of cooks, craftsmen, producers, and students!

Organisers say the Village has thus turned into “the only major global gastro-diplomatic event dedicated to traditional and popular cuisines”. The event attracted more than 40,000 visitors around the best products, chefs and “family recipes of more than 50 countries” with the ambition to attract always more know-how and terroirs.

The major themes of the food of tomorrow

The Forum de France de l’Alimentation is in fact an event that forms part of the wider framework of the Year of Gastronomy, which ended last December, and which is part of the France Relance plan to boost ecological, industrial and social transformations.

Whether at the workshops and round tables or at the Village de la Gastronomie, all the specialists present were able to discuss and make progress, on an international level, on the major themes of food in the 21st century, such as education, transmission, safeguarding cultural heritage, sustainable agriculture and cooking, food safety and solidarity, exchanges between countries or “the role of the French language in sharing culinary know-how”.

A national strategy to promote haute-cuisine

At the same time as the Forum, to coincide with the opening of the Rugby World Cup and the French final of the Bocuse d’Or international culinary competition, on 8 September the President of the French Republic invited grand chefs, sports figures and a number of young people from the sports and gastronomy sectors to a “Déjeuner des grands chefs” at the Elysée Palace.

As the Presidency’s website points out, this event, which combines “gastronomy and sport, two pillars of France’s international reputation and development”, provided an opportunity to launch a national strategy to promote haute gastronomy. It is based on three priorities:  

• identifying and supporting talent;
• international development through entrepreneurial support for chefs;
• promoting haute cuisine as part of a dynamic of openness and influence.

Explore more: 

- The Forum de France de l’alimentation

- The international village of gastronomy

- The déjeuner des Grands Chefs