EXPO, or the World’s Fair as it’s probably better known, is being held in the Italian city of Milan this summer. This time around, the theme is food, but it’s not just about the eating (as I unfortunately found out later). As well as learning about all the different things people around the world eat for their dinner, EXPO also aims to teach the visitor about sustainability and how science can help in solving the global food crisis. The event has always had a scientific backing – the first EXPO was also called the “Great Exhibition”, held in London’s Crystal Palace in 1851. For more information on that, see my article about it.
As has been said elsewhere, the exhibition is absolutely massive. The size is unprecedented – it must have been at least a mile from end to end. Many countries from around the world have areas, in which they show off their personal contribution to food production. When I first heard about this, I assumed it would be like a stand at your local market, but how wrong I was. Even the little countries like Moldova have expensive, two/three storey buildings, designed in the latest architectural (building) fashion.
After paying for a few expensive snacks at the Chinese, Indian and Belgian pavilions, I decided to go over and see what the UK had to offer. There wasn’t much of a queue to get in, unlike the spectacular Nepalese and Hungarian ones. The path up to the structure looks like you’re walking on the grass verges of a motorway, not the picturesque countryside it probably tried to copy. The structure itself looked like a giant K’nex model, or a big cube thing made from metal bars. I wasn’t sure what the message was supposed to be, but there were lots of info boards about how “British businesses” were really helpful towards global food production. It also talked a lot about finance and investment – in other words, I didn’t learn much about food. The café sold fish and chips for about 10 Euros, which I thought was very steep! I was wholeheartedly disappointed.
Other countries like the US had put on a much better show. Their pavilion was a three storey building, where you could learn about things like wheat production in the US. Upon entry, visitors also receive a message from Barack Obama, where he talked about world hunger. He’s probably more popular in Europe than in America, but he does have a lot of charisma and charm. The American pavilion also had an adjoining area called the “Food truck nation” where you had the option to buy typical American hamburgers and hot dogs. As a vegetarian, I gave this a miss, though my travelling companion was very tempted.
Another pavilion I’ll always remember is the Nepalese one, which was designed to look like a Buddhist temple. It was a big wooden structure with lots of tiers, pagodas and golden statues of dragons. At the bottom of it there was a serene, blue pool, with candles and flowers floating on it. Presiding over all of this was a statue of Buddha. It was beautiful.
Although I came away not having learned much more about food production and sustainability, I did discover what each country aimed to bring to the World’s Fair, and how they wanted to portray themselves. Britain didn’t appear to care very much, but countries like France and even the Vatican put in a fair amount of effort. Nations with difficult political situations also took part, and I was very impressed by the Iran, Oman and Belarus pavilions.
EXPO is on until November this year, so if you’re going to Northern Italy for your holidays this year, it might be worth a visit. Tickets for the daytime are around 35 to 40 Euros, but you can get one for the evening (7pm to 11pm or midnight on weekends) for just 5 Euros. To get there, there are lots of train links from Milan city centre, and bus/train links from other parts of Northern Italy. If you go in the evening, it’s worth the money, even if it’s just to say you’ve attended the World’s Fair. You may learn something, you may not, but the main thing is that you enjoy yourself.
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