BC THE ORGANIC WAY by Marya Skrypiczajko
Scene 1: Fresh hand rolled pici pasta; well-dressed folks cycling
to the outdoor markets to fill their baskets with spring artichokes,
rapini greens and long fat fava beans; buffalo milk mozzarella so
fresh it was made only hours before lunch; old olive groves and vineyards
around every picturesque corner of countryside.
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-focussed 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 agritourismos (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 agritourismo. 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.
Marya Skrypiczajko is the author of BC the Organic Way - Where to Find
Organic Food in British Columbia www.bctheorganicway.com
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