I was interested (and I must admit, a bit surprised) to read recently that Italy is the European leader in organic farming. Living here in Tuscany it is clear that there is definitely a growing culture of farming and eating more organic food, but somehow I was hoping that the richer and seemingly more “progressive” countries (like Germany) would rank higher. Well, with over a million hectares of land under organic management and just under 45,000 organic farms in operation, Italy tops the list, followed by Germany and Spain (www.organic-europe.net). Tuscany alone has more than 2,300 organic farms that mainly produce olive oil, but also top-notch wines, cheeses, cereals, legumes and meat.

Some of these farms, known as “agriturismi”, rent rooms, so you can enjoy a peaceful stay and see how things are grown. Many let their guests pick fruit from their orchards, so you may be able to sample pear and apple varieties that you will never find in local Italian supermarkets, let alone in the UK. For the more adventurous, WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) offers people the opportunity to stay and work on organic and biodynamic farms. Generally, for half a working day per day, you get room and board and you can imagine how delicious the food is! Thick cannellini bean soups with parmesan shavings, schiacciata – a flatbread pizza baked with no toppings other than salt, rosemary, and green olive oil, castagnaccio – a smoked chestnut flour cake, best enjoyed with milk ricotta fresh sheep and honey. Hmm

Many Italian moms still go to the market on a daily basis and prepare fresh, healthy and tasty meals from scratch for their families. But in recent decades, families in which both partners work outside the home have become the norm, so ready-to-use bottled pasta sauces, parboiled rice, and frozen pizzas are available in stores. supermarkets. The Slow Food movement was founded in Italy in 1986, in response to this rapidly expanding culture of fast food (and “fast life”). It is now an international movement involving 80,000 people around the world. It promotes the “right to pleasure”, especially, but not only, the pleasures of the table. With its events, publications, special projects and fairs, it upholds local food and drink traditions and makes them known more, celebrating local specialties, promoting artisans who produce tasty and real food, and fighting the mass-produced blandness of all. The Slow Food movement defends biodiversity, and it is in this spirit that farmers, particularly organic ones, have started raising the Cinta Senese pig once again. It is a local Tuscan breed that was rejected a few decades ago in favor of the pink pig (which is easier and faster to get fat). Amazing Cinta Senese hams and salamis are now produced on organic farms around Tuscany.

The ubiquitous but charming Jamie Oliver is a great champion of both organic and Italian food. “It should have been Italian,” he says in his sixth book “Jamie’s Italy,” in which he explores regional Italian cuisine, often adding his own twists, while frequently using and promoting organic ingredients. You are correct that Italians treat all aspects of food with the love and attention it deserves. Italy boasts a host of distinctive regional cuisines, all featuring their traditional recipes and local ingredients, such as the “cavolo nero” (black cabbage, much more enjoyable than it sounds!) And the flavorful and nutty “farro” (spelled ), both from Tuscany. Some ingredients are so local that they only have dialect names and are not even known in neighboring regions, such as “stridoli” (a delicious spinach / arugula-shaped vegetable) used in Romagna, northern Tuscany. And thanks in part to the campaigns of the Slow Food movement, local varieties like the Rocchetta squash from Liguria are being returned to small properties and the market and will not be lost forever.

Friends (both in the UK and here in Italy) have told me that they would definitely buy more organic food if it was cheaper. I was pleasantly surprised to find that here in Tuscany, buying local organic produce from farm shops is, in many cases, cheaper than buying conventionally grown food from the supermarket. Everyone who lives in the less wealthy countries of the euro zone will tell you that the cost of living has risen considerably since the euro was introduced. Many previously cheap items have doubled in price.

The rise in prices has been compounded by a domino effect in which everyone in the production chain adds a little more to make up for the extra they have had to pay for raw materials, etc. Speaking with organic and biodynamic producers, whose prices appear to have been relatively stable, I came to the conclusion that since many of these farms are practically self-sufficient, their costs have not increased much and as a consequence they have not had to. their prices went up so much. Of course, this is only true if you buy products directly from the producer; as soon as someone else transports, packages and distributes them, the cost inevitably rises. So once again, the moral is: whether you are in Tuscany or Tyne and Wear, take the time to slow down, shop for locally grown food, and savor what you cook and eat.

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