Grani di Gaia’s first flight abroad — Lush Summit London 2017
By Ginny Gegg
On the 8th and 9th February 2017, London’s authentic Tobacco Dock hosted the second edition of the Lush Summit.
The ancient venue was successfully transformed into an interactive platform, bringing together charities, speakers and grassroots organisations from all around the world whose projects have been funded by Lush.
Open to the general public, the event welcomed activists, campaigners and like-minded people to explore the medley of products, activities, talks and videos organised by advocates for positive change. These groups defend a variety of topical global causes, such as: food sovereignty, animals in servitude, climate & energy and many more. Both Gaia Education and Sicilia Integra found their place in the War & Poverty room, amongst other charities raising their voices for those that the world chooses not to hear.
While cooking up the ancient grain pasta for passers-by to taste, Gaia Education’s May East and Ginny Gegg, alongside Sicilia Integra trainer, Vincenzo Santiglia, recounted the tale of how a group of migrants became empowered by the training in Design for Sustainability & Organic Food Systems offered by the Sicilia Integra programme. Empowered and inspired, the migrants went on to etablish their own social enterprise called ‘Grani di Gaia’, in the heart of Sicily, the home of organic agriculture.
At Grani di Gaia, the migrants, together with master baker Maurizio Spinello and Sicilian youth, carefully mould the ancient wheat into opportunities for joy, hope, courage, trust and peace…
This article was originally published at www.gaiaeducation.org.
Read more about the social enterprise at granidigaia.com
Explore the Sicilia Integra programme here
