Chicken and beef sticks with satay sauce and rice & pumpkin soup by taste-2-go (Photo: Lili Kocsis)

The Argentina Independent is organising what we hope is the first of many Underground Market events. An underground market is a one-day event that provides the opportunity for amateur chefs, artisanal food producers, and creators of amazing homemade food to sell their wares to a hungry and receptive audience of local and expat foodies.

We are looking for vendors to create and sell their own dishes that can be served and eaten on site at the Buenos Aires Underground Market.

The philosophy of the market is to create a space for people who are un-certified – and therefore don’t have other options to sell their wares. We like to stay true to this, and although the occasional certified vendor will get in, basically we would like to take people who make their goods at home, and are just trying to get off the ground.

The hope is that the market is a kind of incubator, helping people to raise capital, as well as gain support. If you’re interested in being a vendor, send us an e-mail with your name, phone number and dish you’re interested in bringing until Sunday, 13th May to undergroundmarket@argentinaindependent.com and we will send you more information about the BA Underground Market and how everything works.

The first BA Underground Market will take place at IMPA La Fábrica, Querandíes 4290, on Saturday, 9th June from 12-5pm.

Hope to see you all at the first BA Underground Market!

A delegation of Mapuches has asked the Chilean Supreme Court of Justice to annul the ruling in which four locals were sentenced to prison for 20 and 25 years. The Mapuches held have been carrying out hunger strikes for 45 days.

Hector Llaitul, Ramón Llanquileo, José Huenuche and Jonathan Huillical were sentenced to 25 and 20 years of prison following the investigation into the terrorist attack against Marío Elgueta. They and their Mapuche supporters believe the trial was unfair on many counts.

The delegation met with the Archbishop of Santiago, Ricardo Ezzati, to ask for his intervention in the case. The families of the imprisoned also sent a letter to Milton Juica, the higest authority in the Supreme Court. Pablo Ardoulin, National Advocacy lawyer, explained that their objective is to try and achieve another trial.

Story courtesy of Agencia PĂşlsar, the news agency of AMARC-ALC.

The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) denounced 8 million suffer from hunger in Colombia. The entity indicated the toll is the equivalent to 18% of the Colombian population.

Also, the FAO considered hunger in Colombia is a structural problem associated with inequality, corruption and armed conflict.

The FAO’s representative in Colombia, Carlos Augusto del Valle, confirmed there are “violence outbursts en some regions of the country affecting food accessibility”. He explained that in those areas, “people’s ability to produce their own food is limited”.

Del Valle said that those affected by hunger are mostly displaced peasants living in marginal areas and unemployed in medium and large cities. According to the FAO, the most affected areas are Chocó, south Bogotá, Cazucá and Cundinamarca.

Every year 15,000 children under five die for causes related to malnutrition in Colombia.

It is worth remembering that in mid-February, the FAO supported the creation of an Observatory on the Right to Food in Latin America. It will be a centre of information, research and disclosure on the regional situation of the right to food.

The Observatory is also to generate debates in universities and in the government in order to elaborate new regulatory policies in the field.

Story courtesy of Agencia PĂşlsar, the news agency of AMARC-ALC