Ten points aimed at system reinforcement and at injecting fresh life into Italian Agriculture, Food & Beverages, Tourism and Cooking. After the first meeting in Rome, the second
Forum on Italian Cuisine, promoted by the
Italian Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Forestry, took place today at
Cascina Triulza in the presence of three Ministers,
Maurizio Martina,
Stefania Giannini and
Dario Franceschini, and over 40 of Italy’s most distinguished chefs. These included the Chef Ambassadors of Expo Milano 2015
Massimo Bottura,
Carlo Cracco,
Antonino Cannavacciuolo,
Pietro Leemann,
Cesare Battisti,
Ugo Alciati,
Moreno Cedroni,
Enrico Bartolini and
Cristina Bowerman. During the Forum, Minister
Martina, on behalf of the Government, presented the new
Food Act, a series of measures for strengthening Italian Cookery.
“The Food Act is a pact between the Institutions and the world of quality Italian cuisine”, explained Martina. “It intends to be a team effort brought to bear on the system, in order to fortify the Italian Agriculture and Food sector. With the first ten actions, we fix a series of clear goals, using innovative operative instruments to be developed and constantly monitored. This will be an operation initiated – and not only symbolically – from Expo Milano 2015. The world is ordering Italian, especially at the table. We have to boost our system, in order to avoid missing opportunities. In this context, the role of chefs is strategically vital: they are the ambassadors of quality Italian cuisine and of our Made in Italy identity. The Food Act has been conceived to make us stronger and better coordinated.”
Among the chefs present was the great and venerable Expo Milano 2015 Ambassador Gualtiero Marchesi, who dispensed advice and was warmly greeted by all his colleagues present. “We are living a crucial moment, and the presence of three Ministers demonstrates it”, declared another Expo Ambassador, Carlo Cracco. “It has finally become clear that cooking is not just a way of feeding yourself, it is also a meeting point for a series of different fields and players, and an opportunity to boost the growth of all segments connected with the Food and Beverages sector, as part of the process of constructing a better future for Italy.”
Among the Plan’s goals:
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to reinforce the links between agriculture, food and drinks production, restaurants, culture and tourism;
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to boost the commercial visibility and attractiveness of the various regional identities;
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to focus on internationalization processes, unifying different aspects of gastronomic and culinary promotion;
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to develop new awareness and knowledge of the importance of food education in schools in eventually shaping the managerial competence of operators in the sector;
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to promote information on Italy’s agriculture, food products and beverages and defend the values of the nutritional model of the Mediterranean Diet.
“Today’s Forum has been inspired above all by cooks”, said another great Ambassador Chef to Expo Milano 2015, Massimo Bottura. “When the doors of Expo Milano opened, we began a dialogue with the Institutions, where people have been willing to listen to us. Today’s cooks generate a huge induced benefit for tourism, because people increasingly book their holidays according to restaurants and local specialty foods. Without Expo Milano 2015, all of this would not have been possible.”
