“Disanapianta”: the Braglia girls hit the kitchen (part III)
2017-05-29
We continue our talk with sisters
Francesca, Silvia and Lorella Braglia, founders of Reggio Emilia-based
“Disanapianta”, the association which promotes greater
awareness of nutrition and
natural food
Empathy, rather than logic, will be the fourth sense of the future according to Daniel Pink. What do want your food to give to the people who eat it?
“
We encourage people to be more aware of their bodies and minds while they’re eating: chewing, breathing, tasting, listening to the flavours and recognising them, noticing the physiological changes in our bodies, being more mindful... Today there’s an emphasis on the hedonistic aspect of food, but that’s not what we’re interested in. We teach people to listen to food, considering it with all their senses rather than just looking at it. We also want to rid food of its consolatory connotations: it’s often seen a means of gratification and comfort, a psychological response to certain needs.”
Play, the art of not taking things too seriously, is the fifth sense. How do you like to play?
“
We love playing with flavours, combinations, textures and nutritional aspects, as well as finding new connections between food and quantum physics, psychology or spirituality. Creativity is our byword at work! We’re always looking for the perfect recipe in sensory and nutritional terms, for example by combining chickpeas with beetroot to make sure we absorb the B group vitamins in full, or using herbs to release the antioxidant power of leafy green vegetables. In a world where everyone theorises about what we should eat, we put our beliefs into practice – it’s our strength. We don’t just tell people that brown rice is good for them, we teach them how to cook it... As Protagoras said, theory without practice is blind, just as practice is blind without theory.”
Finally, the sixth and last sense: drawing meaning from our experiences rather than just accumulating them. What does food mean to you?
“
For Lorella food is a way of communicating with ourselves. It’s about relating ourselves and our needs to what the world can give us. Whatever we get from the outside changes us inside. For Francesca food is all about giving love, the ultimate aim for ourselves and others: nutrition in its wider sense, beyond the physical. For Silvia food is a world which ends up inside us, so choosing what we eat is an alchemy which transforms us. When we talk about natural food, all three of us are referring to the World Cancer Research Fund’s fourth recommendation: to ensure our diets consist mainly of plant-based foods, with a wide variety of unrefined cereals, pulses, fruit and vegetables. We also consider the ethical aspects of protecting rather than depleting our environment, seeking not to exploit other people’s lives wherever possible. But we look beyond the labels of “veganism” or “vegetarianism”: we’re grateful for what the world and other people offer us.”
Mariagrazia Villa
