G8/G20:The lake may be fake, but will the potatoes be real?

I've been to a number of summits, mostly APEC and North American Leaders' meetings.

Whether the events are in New Orleans or Singapore, they are very similar: They're expensive, very little happens before the final news conference where an often bland final communique (usually written long in advance) is unveiled and reporters spend a lot of time inside a cavernous holding pen for print and broadcast journalists.

These spaces range from established convention centres to temporary structures with portable flushless toilets. On the walls are the predictable large flattering photographs of the host nation.



Once inside, someone hands reporters a bag filled with tourism paraphernalia and items such as pens, pads of paper and a USB key filled with even more promotional material. After heading to a workstation to file stories, journalists drift toward the free finger foods, coffee and beer. I don't recall any displays that could compete with Canada's fake lake, scheduled to make its debut at the G8/20 in Toronto.

However, I do remember a rather charming display from the APEC meeting in Lima, Peru in November 2008. On the last day of the summit, right after filing my last story, I had some time to explore the media centre. In one far corner near a set of outdoor bathrooms, I discovered a large table sprinkled with corn and dotted with several varieties of potatoes. Two local farmers dressed in traditional Peruvian garb stood proudly next to the examples of their harvest, eager to answer questions about their crop.

And yes, as you see...the potatoes were real.