The Mayor of Dénia, Vicent Grimalt, has participated in the opening of the Sustainable Gastronomy Forum held today in Dénia, organized by the Chair of Social Responsibility of the Generalitat Valenciana at the University of Alicante, with the collaboration of the Dénia City Council and the GASTERRA UA Mediterranean Gastronomy Center -Denia. The mayor was accompanied by Juana Jordá, director of Gasterra, and Arturo Jiménez, representing the Chair of Social Responsibility of the Generalitat Valenciana at the University of Alicante.
The objective of the day is to give voice to small actors in the province of Alicante who, from a responsible approach, are contributing to consolidating business and institutional projects with transformative capacity in agriculture, agri-food production, marketing, restaurants or leisure. and gastronomic tourism.
In this sense, the mayor of Dénia was grateful that the forum was held in the Marina Alta, "a territory that has identified gastronomy as one of its most valuable resources for the future." «Carrying out an exercise of responsibility like the one proposed by this forum -she added- consolidates knowledge of the environment and promotes hopeful experiences. We talk about the things that make us different, like making honey, making wine or making cokes; and that difference is what will allow us to survive in the global future that awaits us.
The mayor continued his intervention by pointing out that “the will is there, the actors are there, we have the conditions. We must not stop talking, as we will do today in this forum, but above all, we must act. It is the time for professionals, companies, institutions, trainers and researchers. It is time for shared responsibility. And as for action, the mayor gave as an example the work that has been done in Dénia for a few years with the Bancalet project, ensuring that "in the coming months we will see it planted and with the seed ready."
At the end of the presentation, the first work table of the day began to discuss "Territory, gastronomic identity and sustainability", with the interventions of Juana Jordá, director of Gasterra, Pep Romany, chef of the Pont Sec restaurant and recognized defender of the product and gastronomic heritage of Dénia and the Marina Alta, and Inmaculada Sancho, employment and local development agent in the Commonwealth of l'Alcoià i el Comtat.
Next, small producers from the province who work with proposals based on the territory, its environmental and cultural values, participated in another working group to tell their experiences. Juan Carlos Gavilá, from Serralet de Segària, participated in a unique beekeeping project in Ràfol d'Almunia; Miguel Ángel García, from Olis Rontonar in Benifallim, Cristina Rodríguez, from Finca La Alberca, the Teulada-Moraira winemaker who produces the famous M wine from Alejandria, and Mayte Pardo, from Cerveses Althaia, in Altea, which produces artisanal beer with an accent Mediterranean.
To end the forum, attendees were offered a sample of local gastronomic products.
