Singers from Trinidad and Tobago join IICA’s tribute to food chain workers

San Jose, 6 July 2020 (IICA). Singers Chris García and Gregory Ballantyne from Trinidad and Tobago have joined IICA’s campaign to pay tribute to farmers and food chain workers whose daily efforts are ensuring that consumers in the Americas continue to receive food supplies amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

García is a soca singer-songwriter whose music is heavily influenced by Indian sounds. Ballantyne, who has composed calypso songs for several well-known artists from Trinidad and Tobago, has won multiple international calypso competitions over the course of his career, which spans more than 30 years.

IICA’s campaign has brought together renowned artists from different countries in the Americas, who are selflessly participating in the POPULAR MUSIC TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO WORK DAY TO DAY TO PUT FOOD ON OUR TABLES.

Gustavo Santaolalla, João Bosco, Gilberto Gil, León Gieco, Carlinhos Brown, Luis Enrique Mejía Godoy, Mart'nália, Maria Luiza Jobim, Teresa Parodi, Soledad Villamil, Víctor Heredia, Hilda Lizarazu, Paulo Miklos, Lidia Borda, La Charo (Tonolec), Willy Piancioli (Los Tipitos), Agustín Ronconi (Arbolito), Alejandro Davio (Mundo Alas), Anabella Zoch, Peteco Carabajal, Dolores Solá, Acho Estol (La Chicana), Guadalupe Urbina, Lila Downs, Los Folkloristas, Nano Stern, Ana Prada & Pata Kramer, Adrián Goizueta, Larbanois & Carrero and Kiko Veneno are just some of the performers who have selflessly and generously contributed to the campaign launched by IICA.

Enjoy the performances by Chris García and Gregory Ballantyne here:

Several organizations in different countries have taken part in the tribute organized by IICA. In Argentina, the tribute has received the backing of the country’s Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries; the Ministry of Culture of the Nation; the Ministry of Social Development; the anti-hunger program – Plan Argentina contra el Hambre; the Secretariat of Media and Public Communication; the public broadcast entity, Contenidos Públicos Sociedad del Estado and the arts foundation, Fondo Nacional de las Artes.

Meanwhile, in Brazil, UNESCO Brazil and the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets (ABRAS) have both endorsed and become a part of this campaign.

Access the concert by the Argentinian performers who have joined this campaign by clicking on the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DT1CxNALDus. Contributions from the other artists can also be found on the IICA YouTube channel. You can also revisit the performances on Food for All, a program produced by Canal Rural Brasil, which was broadcast on June 20, not only on that channel, but also on Agrotendencia TV, Canal Rural of Argentina, Canal UCR of Costa Rica and Clarín Rural of Argentina, airing throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

IICA will continue to publish the contributions of the artists participating in the campaign on all its digital platforms and on those of its partners in this initiative, using the following hashtags on social media:

#GRACIAS

#HEROESYHEROINAS

#PORLOSALIMENTOSENNUESTRAMESA

#OBRIGADO #OBRIGADA

#HERÓISEHEROÍNAS

#THANKS

#HEROESANDHEROINES

#FORFOODONOURTABLES

More information:

Institutional Communication Division, IICA

comunicacion.institucional@iica.int