Approximately 220 thousand attended the three-day event Coldiretti Village in Venice. Residents, many visitors from Veneto and the rest of Italy and many foreigners, crowded the spaces between Riva Sette Martiri and Giardini Napoleonici, to discover the great biodiversity of Italian agriculture. This is the estimate by Coldiretti at the conclusion of the great peasant festival with over two hundred stands including farmers’ market, street food, agriasilo, farm animals, vegetable gardens, educational farms, agrichef, laboratories, new technologies and workshops, where it was possible to taste, learn, play and have fun creating a strong bond between the countryside and the city.
“The Venice Village was a great opportunity to raise awareness of the biodiversity and sustainability of Italian agriculture and that of the Veneto region in particular, a model based on the distinctiveness and quality of Made in Italy agri-food, the entrepreneurial spirit of young farmers and the frontiers of innovation. – declared the President of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini – We have created some inconvenience to the residents, but we also love this city and they can rest assured that we will leave it better than we found it – he added – Citizens were once again able to see first-hand the records of national agriculture which we must now defend and support against attempts to impose wrong and dangerous food models, from Nutriscore to synthetic food”.
At the Village representatives of the institutions and the economic world. At the three-day Coldiretti Village with the President Ettore Prandini and the general secretary Vincenzo Gesmundo and together with Carlo Salvan, President of Coldiretti Veneto, there was no shortage of personalities from the political world such as the vice president and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani, the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty Francesco Lollobrigida, Luca De Carlo, President of the Senate Agriculture Commission, Luca Zaia, President of the Veneto Region, Luigi Brugnaro, Mayor of Venice, Stefano Pisani, Mayor of Pollica. A united front that has lined up in defense of the Mediterranean Diet, the heritage of Made in Italy under attack for the attempt by multinationals to replace healthy and natural foods on the table with ultra-processed products of which often not even the recipe is known.
Also present were representatives of the economic and cultural world: Vinicio Moses Vigilante, CEO of GSE, Matteo Zoppas, President of Ice, Giuseppina Riggio, Manager of the Enilive Biorefinery in Venice, Massimiliano Cattozzi, Manager of the Intesa Sanpaolo Agribusiness Department, Eleonora Santi, Director of External Relations Philip Morris Italia , Ivan Aggazio, Regional Director of Veneto Trenitalia, Gaetano Evangelisti, Head of Associations, Stakeholders and Territorial Policies Enel Italia, Massimo Di Carlo, Deputy General Director – Business Director of Cdp, Roberto Weber, President of Ixe’, Felice Adinolfi, Full Professor of Economics and Policies Agricultural University of Bologna, Luigi Scordamaglia, CEO Filiera Italia, Giuseppe Campanile, Full Professor of Special Zootechnics at the University of Naples Federico II, Angelo Mellone, Entertainment Director Day Time – Rai. There was no shortage of well-known faces from the entertainment industry such as Anna Falchi, Massimiliano Ossini and Vittorio Brumotti.
Filiera Italia and Coldiretti have signed an important agreement with Cassa Depositi e Prestiti to support Italian agri-food companies.
Innovative ideas of young farmers rewarded. The Village hosted the national finals of the Oscar Green, the award for young agricultural enterprises to the companies that have most distinguished themselves in guaranteeing food and energy self-sufficiency and the sustainability of production. There will also be space for the new census of the Seals of Campagna Amica, the products saved from extinction thanks to the commitment of Italian farmers who also represent a driving force from a tourism point of view. Focus on the damage caused by the blue crab, the sea killer that is devastating fish production on the Italian coasts, with the most serious situation in Veneto.
The solidarity of suspended spending
The Campagna Amica Foundation donated one and a half tons of high quality typical products, from pasta to fruit and vegetables, from extra virgin olive oil to meat and fish, from cured meats to cheeses collected in the village market thanks to the solidarity initiative “Suspended Expenditure”. The parcels will be distributed to families in difficulty through the parish of S. Elena and the Dona la shopping, Casa Famiglia, Anfas, Caritas Lido and Solidarity Emporium associations. The Patriarch of Venice, Monsignor Francesco Moraglia, officiated Sunday’s celebration.
Hundreds of children also participated in educational activities in the agriasilo promoted by the women of Coldiretti, where they learned to knead bread, to hoe the garden and the importance of healthy eating and sports. The farm animals in the spaces of the Aia, the Italian Breeders Association, were also much loved by the little ones, and the theme of floriculture was also very successful.
Many followed the lessons on home economics and ancient remedies for modern women promoted by the agricultural entrepreneurs of Coldiretti. And space for the initiatives of the senior Coldiretti.
In Venice the event took place in an absolutely regular manner, with the highest levels of security despite the extraordinary participation of the public, thanks to the police, the Prefect of Venice Darco Pellos and the Police Commissioner Gaetano Bonaccorso, with the police, carabinieri, guard of finance, the traffic police force, the fire brigade, the harbor master’s office, the navy and the air force which guaranteed the smooth running from land and sea, aided by cutting-edge control systems, made available to them by Coldiretti, with drones and high resolution video surveillance systems.
Space for Made in Italy excellence at the table
The 8 euro menus with the best of Made in Italy at the table were very popular, where the pasta with Cavallino tomato with olives from the Garda Riviera, the Isolana risotto with Grana Padano Dop, the tortellini with Parmesan cream were very popular. Reggiano Dop, but also the 100% Italian meat from the grill, the zero km fish, the agri-gelato and all the Made in Italy street food such as the sandwiches with Asiago melt and zero km vegetables or the sandwich with Venetian soppressa. There was also a crowd at the large Campagna Amica market, with around 100 companies – continues Coldiretti – offering the best of the Veneto and the rest of Italy at the table, from cheeses to cured meats, from honey to vegetables and jams, with a space dedicated to biological agriculture. Crowds of visitors also visited the Oleoteca and the Enoteca with tastings of extra virgin olive oil cocktails, wine and agricultural beer. But also for the activities that took place in the Campagna Amica cooking school with the Farmer Chefs and the “Judges for a Day” event with the public who voted for the traditional dishes.
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