The Davos Detox
Snowball fight at Davos - Reed Paget of Belu Water UK and Garth Japhet of Soul City Institute for Health and Development Communication, South Africa.
I am staying at the Schatzalp Hotel "four minutes above Davos" reads the belated advertisement, when you reach the top via funicular. The air up here is so clean and thin, my toothpaste explodes with the tiniest squeeze. My nose and throat are completely transformed - perhaps I was an alpaca in a previous life, or maybe I just need more oxygen.
I am exhausted by a lot of blah blah blah - speculation on whether the slide in the US economy will affect the whole world. Some say no because China and India can offset the slide with the strength of their domestic demand. But aren't all the world economies rather overblown everywhere? I realise that reading a good quality newspaper can be more insightful than listening to VIPs talk because of the things they don't want to say.
After a few days' grind of this kind, I find a gem and treat myself to a dinner laid on by Alice Waters, the chef of Chez Panisse, and authority on Slow Food. I find myself in a room full of American foodies. The meal is amazing - although saying a little prayer for the lamb and the sheep that are on my carnivorous friends' plates is a bit much. She has been busy in the kitchen with the team all afternoon preparing local food it took a task force to forage for from the surrounding farms. Well done, World Economic Forum for recognizing the importance of food, and the problems associated with its globalisation. Environmental and cultural issues are discussed with great passion by most, although some have just come along because they LOVE the food. I ate delicious breads and cheeses and polenta with a veggie ratatouille. By re-employing the dozens of security guards as food foragers, Alice Waters could bring local and sustainable food to the whole of the Davos conference. I am sure all would be much more receptive to talking and thinking about sustainability. Maybe I'll write a letter.
Comments