News

International Mountain Day 2019 photo and recipe contest launch

29.10.2019

The Mountain Partnership Secretariat (MPS) has launched this year’s International Mountain Day photo and recipe contest.

This year’s contest focuses on mountain products and on healthy, nutritious recipes that reflect the traditions of the mountains.

Did you know that 6 of the 20 most important food crops originate in mountains, such as potatoes, maize, barley, apples, sorghum and tomatoes? It is difficult to imagine a nutritious diet without at least one of these foods.

Throughout the centuries, mountain communities have developed highly diversified economic systems to protect their livelihoods from the uncertainties of their harsh and unpredictable environments. Mountain agriculture is, therefore, often highly biodiverse, based on family farming, small-scale and has a low carbon footprint.

This has allowed for the preservation of traditional knowledge and practices, resulting in many mountain products of particularly high quality, such as coffee, tea, honey, herbs, spices and grains.

By capturing photos of delicious dishes and writing down recipes made with mountain products, you can help preserve cultural traditions, promote agrobiodiversity and support farmers in mountains!

The prize for the outright winner will be an action camera and a copy of a Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) produced booklet of Mountain Recipes, containing the top 30 recipes. A jury will choose the six best mountain recipes, and the six finalists will be posted on FAO’s Facebook page for the public to decide the winner in time for International Mountain Day on 11 December.

Send us your mountain recipes! Submit up to three entries, which should include: a recipe containing mountain products from anywhere in the world, a good quality photograph of the dish and a brief explanation of the nutritional or cultural significance of the recipe. The deadline for entries is 4 November 2019 (12pm CET).

Read more about the contest and submit your entry