The Rooted Everyday Mediterranean Short Story Prize celebrates and protects the rich culture and biodiversity found in Mediterranean ecoregions.
School pupils within the Rooted Everyday campaign eco-regions of Lemnos in Greece, High Atlas mountains in Morocco, Montados in Portugal and Shouf mountains in Lebanon were invited to submit stories with an environmental theme to raise awareness of the importance of biodiversity and preserving cultural heritage in the Mediterranean.
Alongside the adult competition, children and young people could enter into either a 500 word prize for 8 to 13 year olds, or the 1000 word prize for 14 to 18 year olds.
In Greece, there were two main winners Elisa Katsigiannopoulou (7-13 age group), and Penelope-Konstantina Tramountani (14-18 age group) with two runners up Melina Kelesidi (7-13 age group) and Stavroula-Maria Stenou (14-18 age group). The young writers showed exceptional storytelling skills and inspired the judges. The winners were presented with certificates in a special ceremony.
Winners and runner ups of the children’s Rooted Everyday Mediterranean Short Story Competition in Greece.
Judge Letta Vasileiou explained the judging process and her experience:
“It was with great joy that I took up the role of the judge on the students’ writing competition. I was caught up in pleasant surprise when I received and read their works, only to discover their true writing potential! All of the young participants, and especially the ones who won, produced exceptional stories, with flowing language and full of imaginative ideas. I felt like I was instantly carried over to Lemnos island, looked upon its landscape, smelled its fragrance and saw its inhabitants. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for this experience.”
The Harvest of Memory by Eliza Katsigianopoulou won first prize in the 8 – 13 Category.
The story is a collection of fanciful impressions made on the mind of Eliza, the narrator, of the rustic and simple way of living on the island of Lemnos. She is with her grandfather on their farm and we see and hear from her point of view some of the many local traditions, folkloric legends and stories about pirates of the island, as well as learn about traditional agricultural practices such as the gathering of the grapes. The story is written with an all around nice and humorous tone at times, built at a brisk pace and utilizing properly the local vernacular, phrases and words.
The Island of Fire by Penelope-Konstantina Tramountani won first prize in the 14 – 18 Category.
The story begins with the birth of princess Hypsipile and the ancient Greek gods endowing her with grace and gifts of beauty. Aphrodite is the only goddess that shuns her and departs as Hypsipile grows up on the island of Lemnos. She reaches seven years of age without ever talking once while the women of the island are tormented by a horrible disease. Rage is incited by the locals who consider her a monstrosity and want her dead. We learn that it was Hera that has accepted Hypsipile’s ability to talk as a gift from the princess’s mother, Queen Myrina, in return of the slow-working medicine for the Lemnian women’s ailments that would have cured them eventually. Hephaestus intervenes out of pity and turns Hypsipile into a dragon. Eventually, Hypsipile flies over the countryside and confronts the Lemnian people and led by her own mother, they manage to kill her by driving a spear through her lungs. After seeing that, the gods decide to flee into another planet to avoid destruction from man’s fury.
The story ends with a cautionary note about how we have killed this new species that could have benefited mankind with its gift of fire, as we have done with many others in the past.
The story captures a sense of dread and beauty and is structured in flowery and poetic prose.
Workshop Discussions and Research Findings to Culminate in a Shared Resource on Increased Sustainability of Cultural Practices, Biodiversity and Livelihoods in Cultural Landscapes_original
At a workshop held in March 2020, project partners explore economic practices and options that can sustain or improve the viability of cultural practices that support cultural landscapes across the Mediterranean.
Eating an Organic Mediterranean Diet Helps Fight Disease
For years nutritionists have extolled the virtues of a Mediterranean diet, now environmental NGOs like WWF are calling for us to improve our health and the environment by following the Med. The #MedFoodHeroes campaign from 15-27 June coordinated by @RootedEveryday celebrates the rich cuisine the Mediterranean has to offer and the benefits to people and planet when we buy from small sustainable producers.
Meet #MedFoodHeroes Ambassador: Marinos Skolarikos
Marinos studied Greek Culture at the Hellenic Open University, attended Folklore courses at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens and has completed a series of seminars in History, Philosophy, Journalism and New Media.
Meet #MedFoodHero Ambassador: Nikos Mastropavlos
Nikos Mastropavlos is a journalist, cultural scientist, and the publisher of www.eudemonia.gr which focusses on the culture of everyday life in Greece - especially food, travel and the arts.
Meet #MedFoodHero Ambassador: Renato Álvarez
Renato Álvarez was born into a “neo-rural” family who were trailblazers of organic farming in Andalusia. They were also members of the first social movements and associations dedicated to the production and organic food. Since he was little he was involved in agriculture until he decided to study Environmental Sciences at the Pablo de Olavide University (Seville).
Meet #MedFoodHero Ambassador: Fábio Bernadino
Fábio Bernardino is a Chef, the CEO of Travel & Flavours, a teacher, gastronomic consultant, trainer and event organizer; a young Chef whose excellence opened the doors to major Portuguese hotels and restaurants, like the Pestana Hotéis & Resorts group or the Heritage Lisboa Hotels, where he left his mark of professionalism and rigour. With a great passion for cooking, and especially for pastry, he started his career at the age of 14, when he attended the Professional Cooking and Pastry Course of the Lisbon Hotel and Tourism School.
Meet #MedFoodHero Ambassador: Alfredo Sendim
Alfredo Cunhal Sendim was born in Porto and spent his childhood between Lisbon (the city), Montemor-o-Novo (the countryside) and Ferragudo (the sea). Studied veterinary and zoo technical. In 1990 he moved to the Monte of Herdade do Freixo do Meio, a territory where, step by step, he has been developing a structural project in the agricultural and social field.
Meet #MedFoodHeroes Ambassador: Sahar Elhallak
Nine years ago, Sahar left her home in California and landed in Morocco in a quest to find herself. While she started a new life in Marrakech, she found some challenges to find restaurants that catered to vegetarians like herself. Since she always enjoyed hosting dinner parties and food-related fundraising events, she started cooking for friends which grew into welcoming people into her beautifully restored hundred-year-old house, for unique culinary experiences.
Meet #MedFoodHeroes Ambassador: Najat Kaanache
Born to Moroccan parents in a small town near San Sebastian in Spain, Najat Kaanache has been cooking at home since childhood. Now based between the US, Mexico and Morocco. She now creates magic in the kitchen as the owner and chef of the beautiful restaurant Nur in the ancient medina of Fez, named World’s Best Moroccan Restaurant in 2017, 2018 and 2019. She also opened CÚS (a Moroccan bistro in the heart of Mexico City) and Nacho Mama (a funky Mexican cantina in the medina of Fez).
Meet #MedFoodHeroes Ambassador: Driss Mellal
Driss Mellal was born in a small town in the south of Morocco, near the beautiful Dades valley. His love for cooking started at the age of 20, when he was in art school in southern France. He missed Moroccan food and flavours and so started cooking and experimenting himself. After graduating from art school, he didn’t work in the arts as planned, but instead went to culinary school. “I finally got to combine my art background with new cooking skills, and it became the start of a new life for me,” Driss says.
