The South’s Agricultural Renaissance

Agriculture will save us. In an increasingly complex global challenge, one of the few certainties remains food, which transcends the simple function of satisfying nutritional needs. Security, food, democracy, peace, the South—apparently disconnected themes are linked by a strong thread that also leads beyond national borders. Coldiretti is piecing together the puzzle by gathering government representatives (ministers Giorgetti, Foti, Crosetto, and Schillaci), managers, and representatives of civil society at the 23rd edition of the International Forum on Agriculture and Food (in collaboration with The European House-Ambrosetti) which opened yesterday and concludes today with speeches by the Minister of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty, Francesco Lollobrigida, and the Vice President of the European Commission, Raffaele Fitto. The extended agri-food chain is worth 707 billion and has become the country’s primary wealth. At the top in the EU for added value and with a booming export (after 70 billion in 2024, it reached 42.5 billion in the first 7 months, +6%), made in Italy at the table has become a lever of Italian productive development. And a place of honor is reserved for agriculture in the South. This is why Coldiretti has strongly pushed for the confirmation in the Budget Law, passed yesterday, of the agricultural ZES. ‘A tool,’ said Coldiretti President Ettore Prandini, ‘that has given impetus to the development of the South, and for this reason, we insisted a lot for it to remain operational. If the measure is accompanied by investments in logistics and transport, the response of agriculture in the southern regions will be even stronger. I am increasingly convinced that the South has the potential to become the new California.’ In the South, there is not only a strong production and transformation activity, which has made quality and sustainability its creed, but there is also a marked sensitivity to preserving the values of good food. The Coldiretti-Censis report, with the emblematic title ‘Eating Well, Despite Everything,’ highlighted how in the South there is the utmost attention to the food-territory link. Furthermore, there is a propensity for innovation but opposition to synthetic foods. Southerners are also more attentive to what their children bring to the table and demand more food education (93.4% in the South and Islands, 90.8% in the Northwest, 86.8% in the Northeast, and 90.2% in the Center). Even though the greatest difficulties in the school canteen system are found precisely in the southern regions. Coldiretti, announced Prandini, has prepared a project for the qualification of canteens, ‘because it is in school that tomorrow’s consumers are formed, and correct lifestyles are acquired.’ Today, in fact, as denounced by the scientific director of the Policlinico Gemelli Antonio Gasbarrini, the widespread use of ultra-processed foods is creating an epic disaster starting with those under 15. The philosophy of the Mediterranean Diet is no longer followed. And from the Coldiretti stage, two television personalities, Massimiliano Ossini and Sveva Sagramola, launched the proposal of a petition to make the use of organic food products mandatory in schools. Once again, the South would play the game, being the area of the country where organic fields are concentrated. Just as it is a model in defending food identity. An objective indicated by Minister Crosetto, who said: ‘We must defend our agriculture as a bastion of identity and dignity of work, but without closing ourselves off. Defending sovereignty means protecting what makes us unique, but also sharing to be stronger together.’ On the first day of the Forum, the political role of Italian agri-food also emerged, as a factor in the stability of democracy. ‘Food and agriculture, a combination that has marked the history of humanity,’ said Coldiretti’s Secretary General Vincenzo Gesmundo, who denounced the risks arising from the concentration of technologies for producing lab-made foods in the hands of a few. Thus, Europe, ultra-processed products, and geopolitics intersect with the future of those who produce food. Italian agri-food is also a model to export today. Like what Bf International is doing in African countries with a project that intertwines with the Mattei Plan. A multi-decade initiative launched by Coldiretti, as explained by President Federico Vecchioni, which ‘has made agriculture an international actor, a role that goes beyond production.’ Many are the records, as highlighted by Minister Foti, but with some shadows on the EU front. The expressed position was clear: no to cuts in the Agricultural Policy and no to the single fund, ‘a mistake that I hope can be overcome in the trilogue (Commission, Council, and Parliament).’ For Foti, a cut in resources is unacceptable also in light of the enlargement of the CAP to the Balkans and Ukraine, which would further reduce resources. No problem, however, regarding the PNRR, which—as the minister recalled—has reserved special attention to the sector. With the Meloni government, funding has doubled, reaching 8 billion and 800 million euros. Meanwhile, another billion from cohesion funds has been redirected to Coltivaitalia.