The second edition of Terra Madre was held in Turin from October 26 to 30, 2006.

Terra Madre, world meeting of food communities, is organized in collaboration with the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies, Italian Cooperation for Development – Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Piedmont Regional Authority and the Turin City Council. It brings together producers and others involved in agriculture and food activities from around the globe. They represent an alternative and more complex way of understanding quality food: one that is aware of environmental resources, global balances, the sensory characteristics of food, the dignity of workers and the health of consumers.

In 2006 the link between the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre was strengthened, with the two events being held at the same time and in close proximity to each other, the Salone del Gusto at Lingotto Fiere and Terra Madre at the Oval. However the two events maintain their distinct character: the Salone del Gusto is increasingly of a direct meeting between producers of quality products and consumers, while Terra Madre 2006 was an opportunity for members of Food Communities to meet and explore issues in depth.

The name Terra Madre evokes the idea of earth as a mother and sacred figure, and introduces a new actor to the field of food production—the food community. The term denotes an expanded chain covering a whole range of people, from the selector of seeds to small farmers and retailers. These professional activities and the skills they require are all needed if quality food is to be produced, distributed and consumed, and if it is to be an economic, environmental, social and cultural resource. The future of agriculture and food is in the hands of many people with different but interlinking abilities. Such diverse occupations as seed savers, cooks, farmers, fishermen, food gatherers, breeders or technical experts were all represented in Torino.

In figures:
1600 food communities from five continents
5000 farmers, breeders, fishermen and artisan food producers
from 150 countries
1000 cooks
400 lecturers and university representatives

Terra Madre 2006 emphasized the great diversity of knowledge that contributes to the success of a small-scale quality food product, focusing attention on three significant areas of food communities. The ancient traditional knowledge of producers, accompanied by the expertise of cooks, who combine their creativity and knowledge of the product and local areas with empirical skill and creativity in transforming it and official science and research, which are increasingly involved with traditional knowledge in a reciprocal recognition of values and functions.

The 2006 edition of Terra Madre, therefore, involved a large number of cooks together with a rich international array of researchers and university representatives to dialogue constructively with food communities.