Agriculture: the italian short chain of Ortolandia

Farmer markets, zero miles restaurants: the consumer market is moving towards sustainability and to earn not only consumers but also the local economy.
But what exactly is the short chain? Which benefits brings to consumers in economic and food? Let’s find out with this guide!

An early theory of the consumption of local products is the U.S. Gary Paul Nabhan, who in 2001 published the book “Coming Home To Eat”. Catchy and ironic, the book describes the efforts of this ethnobotanical to consume food whose provenance was limited to a radius of 220 miles (400 kilometers) from his home in Arizona.
A few years later, in 2005, the journalists James B. MacKinnon and Alisa Smith did even more: by narrowing the range to only one hundred miles, for a year they just had products derived from the surrounding area in their home in Vancouver, Canada. Their experience is reported in “The 100-Mile Diet: A Year of Local Eating”, yet unknown in Italy but has been a great success in English-speaking world.
In Italy the culture of “zero distance” was born in recent times, but now has found good ground: just think that in 2008 the Veneto region, for the first time in Italy, made a law (LR 25 July 2008, n . 7 Gazette No 62/2008) to approve the distribution and catering, in percentages ranging between 30 and 50%, is supplied with products of Venetian origin.
Not only the increased demand for locally sourced food has had a ‘leverage effect’, on the proliferation of so-called “farmer markets”, or “farmers markets” where farmers and ranchers, avoiding the meshes of large retailers, offering their products directly to consumers. Next to this ‘new’ (old yet!) Way of shopping, even the restaurants world has accepted and exploited the market opportunities of the territory: they are constantly growing so-called “zero distance” to restaurants, where meals are served according to tradition, the ingredients of which are strictly of local origin.
Finally be noted is the recent approval of the bill “Standards for the development of agricultural production from short chain and quality” which was approved by the italian Council of Ministers on 2010 March the 1st. This is a legislative instrument of prime importance because for the first time, it defines the direct sale from the farmers, promoting demand and supply of agricultural products at zero distance and providing a framework for the sector in terms of legislation.

For how many Kilometres our food is going to travel before we can eat it ?

Walking through any supermarket, you can remain dazed from the range of available products, from the vegetables section to that of the butcher, the choice is almost unlimited. Yet it is hard to remember that until recently our shopping was made by the grocer, the butcher, the small grocery store near you. Baker produced the right amount of bread to satisfy its customers and avoid waste, the greengrocer pumpkins were only in winter and peaches in summer only, and it was not uncommon for the fishmonger not find a certain type of fish, if weather conditions were not good. And now?
An embarrassing amount of is thrown away every day, products that are constantly produced at any time of the year, meat and fish from other countries, if not from other continents. For example, in recent years, imports of fruits and vegetables from abroad reached in a total of about two billion euros more. Countries involved are South America (Colombia, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil and Argentina) but also Europe (Spain) and Africa (Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia). The competitive prices offered by imported products put at risk the very Italian fruit and vegetable production, which are among the largest in Europe, with annual production of about 20 million tons of fruits and 16 million tons vegetables.
Sure, there are fruits and vegetables whose importation is almost essential (such as, for example, tropical fruits), because the climatic conditions in Europe do not permit their cultivation, but now we can find on the Italian markets not only the first fruits, but also seasonal products: Argentine pears, oranges from South Africa, Chinese apples and green beans from Kenya. Not to mention Chilean wines, Argentine steaks, tuna or Pacific kangaroo meat! What does it means? That to get to our italian tables, a meal has travelled on average up to a total of 1900 km. In exceptional cases, an Australian wine has to travel over 16,000 km to get to our glass, with nearly 10 kg of oil and emitting thirty pounds of CO2 Does not go better with the Chilean fruit that generates, for each kilogram of product, more than 22 kilograms of carbon dioxide, having to travel over 12,000 km and consuming more than 7 kg of oil.

But what are the costs of this shopping madness?
In view of the phenomena of high oil prices, and the not inconsiderable costs of logistics, of course this globalized system is unsustainable from an environmental perspective but also economically. Food is travelling by truck, ship or aircraft is definitely more expensive than local food.
Fortunately, in Italy, contamination of the markets of our country by foreign products has a valid ‘enemy’ in three out of four consumers who claim to place greater confidence in the products of Italian origin and that in almost half of cases (% 46) are willing to spend more while buying a product in our country.

The farmer markets
Almost like a ‘rebellion’ against the waste and absurdity of the trading system in recent years the Italian consumer has rediscovered its sensitivity to a critical and sustainable buying, one of the major results of this awareness has been the so-called ‘Farmer Markets’ or farmers’ markets. In almost all Italian cities, you can find markets selling exclusively local product. Small producers of the territory have the opportunity to sell directly to consumers food from their farms, thus avoiding the intermediate steps of wholesalers and large retail chains. Also interesting is the personal approach with the green bags in Sardinia (Ortolandia is a good idea from Agriturismo L’Aglientu B&B). They grow vegetables and fruit in their fields and bring the weekly green bags to your home! Fresh, quick and easy! They also have a B&B in Olbia.
The positive aspects of this “short chain” are numerous, from the price competitiveness of certain products, that does not undergo mark-ups generated by the passage of an intermediary between the other hand. In addition, the local origin of products ensures their freshness, unlike what happens in supermarkets, where food has to be preserved by cold storage, chemical additives and preservatives, going to adversely affect the organoleptic qualities of products. The italian “km zero” also makes the food is transported only for short distances, allowing the reduction of energy needs and resulting carbon dioxide emissions.
Farms are generally small and they normally don’t have extensive greenhouses. This means that farmers grow following the rhythms of nature, and that the products available in local markets are strictly seasonal. Just rediscovered the natural frequency of fruit and vegetables, which is critical to the success of farmer markets in contrast with the typical no-season of the supermarkets, the consumer tends to ‘self-educate’ in not to eat tomatoes in December, or apples in June, so finding a positive contact with the seasonality of food.
Shopping in local markets is good not only for the environment but also to save money: the savings related to the purchase at zero distance is around 30% reaching in some cases, 50% . By buying local products, the savings can be quantified in about one hundred euros per month (calculated on an average spend of 467 €) and should not be overlooked, avoids emissions equivalent to one tonne of CO2 per year.
And also… local farmers’ markets are often places where it is pleasant to stop and have a look on the products, talk with producers, establishing relationships of new trust.

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Antonella Bonacossa -
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Article Tags:
farmer markets olbia, farmers market olbia, mercati del contadino, green bag, bio food olbia, verdure biologiche olbia, coldiretti olbia, ortolandia, green box olbia, agriturismo sardegna, gas olbia, vegetarian olbia, bb olbia, turismo rurale sardegna, rural stay

Agriculture: the italian short chain of Ortolandia

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