A few weeks ago I was so fortunate that a Dutch acquaintance informed me about her upcoming visit to Milan. She did not come to see the Duomo and do some shopping, but actually to discover how the city feeds itself. So as soon as I heard this, I decided take of an afternoon of work and take her on a trip that started at the majors office and ended in the field. Let`s give you a recap.
As followers of my blog should know, in
2015 Milan will host the world exhibition that has the theme ‘Feeding the Planet. Energy for Life’.
This mega-event already has many spin-offs that have used the theme as a file
rouge for their activities. One of them is the community of Milan itself, one
of the bigger promoters and financial supporters of Expo Milano 2015. One of
their latest actions is the initiative of the Milan Food Policy, presented in February
2014.
Many cities in the world have food
policies, the most known ones are those of Toronto
and London.
A food policy is a guideline that different departments within a community have
to respect when making their policy. It usually is meant to make cities more
self-sufficient when it regards the food theme, produce more sustainable food
that is accessible to all and make sure that the citizens eat healthier.
For the Food
Policy suggested by Milan the main themes are accessibility, nutrition and
closeness. Forty cities from all over the world have agreed to sign the pact
that is to be presented in October 2015. At this moment, a group of researchers
started an investigation to individuate ten topics that will be elaborated at
so called ‘tables’, which are formed by a team leader and experts. Together they will write the pact, which
after the signing becomes an implementation phase. From politics to practice
thus.
Talking about practise,
we talk about the farmers that produce our food and influence the
accessibility, the nutrition qualities and the closeness of our food. And in
many ways they also do politics. Like the farmer Falappi,
his wife and five other started in the eighties of the last century an action
to form the Parco Agricolo Sud of Milan, an area dominated by agricultural activities that
until 25 years ago was treated to be eaten by the city and the so necessary
expansions.
Thanks to the
formation of the Parco Agricolo SUD (PAS) – a collaboration between 46
municipalities around Milan, seated by the Region of Lombardia - the area is
now recognized as very valuable for the city, not only to produce food, but
even more for its landscape and possibilities for leisure activities. No more
building activities are allowed, the farms (cascine) need to maintain their
characteristic roof tiles and …..
And while for
such a long time the farmers of the area mostly fought with the municipality,
this same government did recently go another step further and decided to help
the precious farmers to find a new market for their products. They negogiate
with a big Italian supermarket (Esselunga) and
made it possible for the farmers to sell their produce here, with the a local
brand saying ‘product from PAS’.
So where the
farmers in the Milanese fields can concentrate themselves finally on producing
quality products, the government uses their local, national and international
influence to help the farmers, their citizens and others in the world to make
it possible to enjoy these products.
