“New EU food labels spread alarm throughout Nutella-loving Italy - Deseret News” plus 3 more

New EU food labels spread alarm throughout Nutella-loving Italy - Deseret News
Festival celebrates city's cultural diversity - Argus Leader
Haiti brings children's art to DC as Smithsonian leads cultural recovery in Port-au-Prince - COX.net for San Diego
China expanding pressure in Tibet - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

New EU food labels spread alarm throughout Nutella-loving Italy - Deseret News

Posted: 19 Jun 2010 06:00 PM PDT

ROME — To Italians, Nutella is much more than chocolate-hazelnut spread. It's a cultural icon, the subject of memorable movie scenes, books and song lines.

So it's no wonder that the mere suggestion that stricter European food labeling rules could harm the beloved product would have Italians up in arms.

The European Parliament approved a draft measure this week requiring all processed foods to have fat, salt and sugar contents clearly labeled on packaging, mostly on the front. The initiative is aimed at fighting obesity and giving consumers more informed choices.

The legislation, which requires final approval by the EU's executive body, was seen as a compromise because the parliament rejected a related measure that would have required food with lots of fat, sugar or salt — like Nutella — to carry red warning stickers.

Still, it has touched a nerve with food producers, which advocate less strict guidelines, and consumer groups and leftist parliament members, who wanted stronger steps such as the red "traffic light" warnings.

But to Italians, it's all about Nutella and the fear that the EU might be scaring consumers away from the one of their culinary joys.

A government official launched a "Hands off Nutella" committee, quickly supported by the governor of Nutella's home base in Piedmont. The Cabinet minister for EU affairs warned against the risk of "nutritionist fundamentalism."

"Nutella Battle in Europe," wrote La Stampa on Thursday, while other papers featured photos of boys sinking their teeth into Nutella sandwiches.

Nutella is produced by chocolate maker Ferrero. Since 1964, when it first came out, it has been a favorite of Italians and a classic snack for generations of children. Over the years, its appeal has grown far beyond kids.

In a scene that has become a classic of Italian cinema, actor-director Nanni Moretti drowns his sorrows in a giant Nutella jar in the movie "Bianca." Italian chansonnier Giorgio Gaber, in a song poking fun of this nation's obsession with "Right" and "Left," concluded that Nutella is "still left-wing." Perhaps that's why leftist leader Walter Veltroni makes no secret of his passion for the chocolate spread.

To its fans, the appeal of Nutella is summed up by its longtime ad: "What world would this be without Nutella?"

Ferrero, while recognizing that the regulations would not amount to a ban on Nutella, says the EU approach carries "risks." The company's vice president, Paolo Fulci, said in a statement that over time it could "influence even the habits and the most intimate aspects of one's personal sphere, like the genuine and healthy pleasures that are passed among generations."

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Festival celebrates city's cultural diversity - Argus Leader

Posted: 19 Jun 2010 09:21 PM PDT

About 50 world cultures were represented Saturday at the 14th annual Festival of Cultures in Falls Park to celebrate Sioux Falls' diverse population.

Deb McIntyre, who serves as entertainment chairwoman for the festival committee, said she was pleased to see the hard work of everyone involved come to fruition on such a beautiful day.

"It's just wonderful. This is perfect. Everybody is sunning," she said. "It's just great."

More than 40 vendors were serving traditional foods and handcrafted items.

Arturo Martinez, who has had a vendor's tent at the Festival of Cultures every year since 2006, said the event is a unique opportunity to show off a little bit of one's own traditions while taking in a bit of someone else's.

McIntyre agreed and said it's especially important for a culturally diverse place such as Sioux Falls to have this type of a party.

"People need to connect music, dance, food. That's the best way for people to connect and realize that they appreciate each other's cultures," she said. "It's not about any one culture; it's about all of our heritages."

Travis Grayson, who was in town visiting from Michigan, said the festival impressed him.

"I didn't expect to see all this," he said, referencing the numerous performers from all over the world who were on stage throughout the day.

"Good music. Good food. Good weather. What more could a guy ask for?"

Reach reporter Joe Sneve at 331-2370.

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Haiti brings children's art to DC as Smithsonian leads cultural recovery in Port-au-Prince - COX.net for San Diego

Posted: 17 Jun 2010 12:33 PM PDT

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Haiti brings children's art to DC as Smithsonian leads cultural recovery in Port-au-Prince

Haiti's first lady Elisabeth Preval visits the Smithsonian's Ripley Center where a display of paintings and drawings made by Haiti's children after the earthquake is being exhibited, in Washington, on Thursday, June 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (Associated Press) --

Haiti's recovery from the devastating earthquake in January requires more than rebuilding structures, but also repairing tattered paintings and cultural objects still buried in the rubble, the island nation's first lady Elisabeth Preval said Thursday.

She visited the Smithsonian Institution to open an exhibit of children's artwork created after the earthquake, calling it a reminder that Haiti still needs help. The paintings and drawings will be on view through the summer. She also discussed the importance of an effort by the U.S. museum complex to lead a cultural recovery effort in Port-au-Prince, where there are few, if any, professionally trained art conservators.

"This is fundamental for our nation," Preval told The Associated Press during her Washington visit. "This is our cultural heritage. This is us."

The Smithsonian leased a building in Haiti's capital that once housed the United Nations Development Programme to create a conservation center where experts from U.S. museums can repair artworks and train Haitians to perform the intricate restoration work.

The first paintings were taken to the center last week. Experts carefully began vacuuming destructive dust from the paintings, repairing tears and "inpainting" damaged areas so it appears nothing happened, Smithsonian conservator Hugh Shockey wrote on his blog.

As many as 10,000 paintings and sculptures by Haitian masters were buried when the Musee d'Art Nader collapsed in the earthquake, said Richard Kurin, the Smithsonian's undersecretary for history, art and culture. Thousands of other objects are buried elsewhere, tracing Haiti's struggle for independence, its abolition of slavery and other cultural milestones.

"Imagine in the United States ... if every Smithsonian museum collapsed, the Nat Archives, the Library of Congress, the White House, the U.S. Congress all collapsed," Kurin said. "At some point we'd probably say it's worth pulling out the Star-Spangled Banner, the Declaration of Independence."

The oldest objects to be recovered date back to Haiti's indigenous people from before the arrival of Christopher Columbus.

Some artifacts have been recovered by hand. Others will require sophisticated engineering and heavy equipment.

Murals painted on the walls of the Episcopal Holy Trinity Cathedral that depict scenes from the Bible have been a central focus. They date to prominent artists from the 1950s and are cherished as part of Haiti's cultural heritage. Some crumbled with the church but at least four remain mostly intact and can be saved, Kurin said. Experts are still trying to determine how.

The effort has been primarily funded with private dollars. The Broadway League trade association made the largest gift of $276,000, while the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities and U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Sciences contributed $30,000 each. Smithsonian officials are working to raise more money to sustain the effort, Kurin said.

The involvement of U.S. cultural agencies also is a response to the looting of Iraqi treasures in 2003. Broadway producer Margo Lion, who co-chairs the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, said cultural recovery is a priority after Americans were accused of neglecting cultural preservation during the invasion of Iraq.

Conservators plan to turn over most of the work to Haitian professionals by November 2011.

During her visit to Washington, Preval helped open an exhibit of 100 paintings and drawings by Haitian children after the earthquake with the Smithsonian's National Museum of African Art. They will be on view through October.

Art has provided healing for children as a way for them to express their emotions, Preval said.

"My dream and my hope is to make sure the world does not forget Haiti," Preval said of the exhibit. She hopes it can help draw more support to overhaul Haiti's schools, beginning with early childhood education, she said.

The display includes paintings by U.S. first lady Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, from their April visit to Port-au-Prince. At the direction of a 5-year-old boy, Obama painted a colorful fish and Biden painted a house.

The Smithsonian Folklife Festival beginning June 24 on the National Mall also will feature artists from Haiti. Some of their work will be sold to benefit Haiti's cultural revival.

____

Online:

Smithsonian National Museum of African Art: http://africa.si.edu

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China expanding pressure in Tibet - Dubuque Telegraph Herald

Posted: 19 Jun 2010 07:59 AM PDT