Italy: a contradiction in terms
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| The article's author, Marya Skrypiczajko | |
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| Common Ground magazine | |
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Scene 2: Frozen bruschetta for sale in supermarkets of monstrous proportions; one car per person zipping down the lanes of medieval villages; garbage strewn on the sides of city and country roads; piles of disposable plastic plates in the homes of excellent cooks.
Italy, motherland of local, seasonal and home-cooked food, has become a contradiction in many ways. I spent the last two summers here working as a hiking guide wandering from village to village and continually had my eyes, ears and taste buds open to any new organic food experience and have come away wowed, disappointed and confused.
In general, I found Italians to be very knowledgeable about their food and wines and noticed the small food shops that exist in every village stock mostly local and seasonal produce, yet I struggled to find organic food in the majority of regions of Italy. For example, in Tuscany, a beautiful agricultural province of central Italy, I managed to find only one small organic wine shop that also stocked some organic dried goods, a limited range of mass-produced organic foods in the large supermarkets and organic olive oils and specialty food items in pricey shops catering to foreign tourists. Only once at an outdoor market did I meet a passionate organic farmer who was selling his own organic herb mixes. Nowhere did I see fresh organic produce for sale.
Giovanni Ricci, the organic herb farmer from Castellina in Chianti spoke of the struggle of small organic farmers who are working with a minimum of impact on the land to set themselves apart from the large companies who mass produce organic products. He preferred to use the terms ecological and ethical in reference to his style of farming because he felt he had nothing in common with the huge farms producing only one type of tomato or wheat. He also explained what a challenge it is for the small farmers to find markets for their products as the big supermarket chains aren't interested in buying from them, nor are the small vegetable stores that find organic produce too expensive. For the moment, he and most other small farmers sell only through the weekly local markets.
Researching the subject, I discovered that 30 percent of all organic food sold in Europe is produced in Italy. That is two thirds of what is produced within the country. In Italy, the majority of organic food is grown in Sicily and Sardinia, but processed in the north. Northern Italy is the more industrial, wealthy and international part of the country and it is there that the large majority of Italian organic food co-ops and organic-focused restaurants are found. The demographics of organic food shoppers here are similar to those of BC: educated folks in their 40s. It seems the younger crowd are more interested in cell phones and fashion, and the women over 50 who are phenomenal cooks and make everything from scratch are not educated on the subject of organic food.
Since 2000, it has been obligatory for school cafeterias to feature organic foods in their lunches, but the program has not been strictly overseen and has not been implemented everywhere. New legislation has recently been passed though which dictates that by 2005 all lunches served in the cafeterias must be 100 percent organic so that all children will receive one organic meal per day. If they manage to make it happen, I think it will be a very impressive standard to inspire other countries.
Nonetheless, organics is the quickest growing sector of agriculture in Italy. Organic agriturismos (B&Bs in farmhouses) are popping up all over the country. I recently read that in Sicily an estate once owned by a mob don in the town of Corleone (where The Godfather was filmed) has been turned into an organic olive farm and vineyard and that the villa has been renovated to become an agriturismo. They have yet to take any reservations for guests though.
So, it remains a bit of a mystery to me. The country so passionate about food and so vehemently opposed to genetic engineering (the Italian Foundation for the Environment states "GMOs are almost like nuclear risks") has yet to embrace the organic movement in a big way.
Originally published on Common Ground magazine ©2004  Marya Skrypiczajko is the author of " BC the Organic Way - Where to Find Organic Food in British Columbia" |
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