Cooking as an act of love, to enjoy the taste of life. “I am convinced that cooking is first and foremost an act of care for others and, at the end of the day, caring is an act of love”, commented chef Roberto Carcangiu, president of APCI Chef, the Professional Association of Italian Cooks, and vice-president of Slafood. And “when research and talent in the kitchen are put to the service of others, they can’t help expressing in the best possible way our professionalism and the passion we have for our work”.

The idea to create Slafood came from Davide Rafanelli, an entrepreneur who worked for ten years with food and in social inclusion projects. It was him that, after being diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), decided to put his skills to the service of projects that focus on preserving and protecting, regardless of the disease, the value he sees in sitting at the table and sharing a meal, and in quality of life.

This is the spirit of Slafood, an association created to help nutritional care projects of NeMo (Neuromuscular Omnicenter) Clinical Centres, a national network that provides care and does research on ALS and other neuromuscular diseases. The association was presented at the Congusto Gourmet Institute of Milan, strongly backed by the support of thirty Italian chefs, including Carlo Cracco, Felix Lo Basso, Elio Sironi, and Roberto Valbuzzi. The partnership consolidated with starred chef Mauro Uliassi, who signed a recipe book for the NeMo Clinical Centre, is proof of the great attention dedicated to food and eating.

Based on a multidisciplinary care approach, the mission of NeMo Centres is to improve quality of life. With this in mind, they always keep a watchful eye on the field of nutrition, to respond, of course, to the primary and safety needs of individuals, but also to the value of relationships and conviviality through sitting at the table – and eating well.

Dysphagia makes it very hard to swallow and to manage food and liquids in the mouth, and it also affects those forced to live with a neuromuscular disease. Those affected by such conditions often find themselves struggling with dishes that ignore the right we all have to continue to enjoy the pleasure of food and the value of appreciating a meal.

This is how the so-called ideological match between the field of medicine and research and the culinary world came to be, christening Slafood during Global ALS Awareness Day, on 21st June, explained Davide Rafanelli. “A solstice day, because it brings with it a profound feeling of rebirth, and, in particular, of hope for a turning point in the research on the causes, treatments, and effective cure for this disease”.

Of course, the Egisto Volterrani International Award, in its Acqua Coralba Special Edition, given to “Gocce di Solidarietà” (Drops of Solidarity) at the Turin International Book Fair, was very symbolic. The award, attributed by the prestigious mineral water company, in 2023 was described as “an award to the extraordinary tenacity and courage of Davide Rafanelli, president of Slafood, which brings ALS patients and their families together with famous names of national enogastronomy to promote medical-scientific projects of research and support to ALS patients all over Italy”.

With this in mind, Slafood promotes events, dinners and specific projects, involving chefs, cooks and the food industry to promote dishes prepared with modified consistencies, thanks to the scientific supervision of the staff of NeMo Centres. These events also aim to raise funds, together with clinicians and researchers who, involved in every initiative, provide updates on research news and on what still needs to be done.

One of the initiatives that also show how it is possible to create a network is the Slafood dinner (cooked by three-starred chefs) at Macherio’s La Filanda restaurant in Monza-Brianza, sponsored by AISLA for Global ALS Awareness Day. About the event, Marisa Fumagalli, an author with a huge following online, said: “Eating well and making sure everyone can do so is a very convincing motto”. There was also a dinner organised by “Con il cuore nel piatto” (“With the heart on the plate”) at Ristorante Degli Angeli in Magliano Sabina (Rieti), in a partnership with Slafood, attended by 350 guests and with 72 top-level chefs (including 18 Michelin-starred professionals), and dozens of professionals of catering, research, and science, as well as physicians who specialise on the fight against ALS.