A meeting this morning at Expo Milano 2015 in the conference room of the Expo Centre was held by Donne Impresa - Imprenditrici agricole di Coldiretti (Business Women – Agricultural entrepreneurs of Coldiretti )with the patronage ofWE-Women for Expo and the title “Women’s leadership in farming: food, health, art.”

Elisabetta Soglio, chief Expo editor for Corriere della Sera, was the moderator for the event.  Participants were Lorella Ansaloni, national manager for Coldiretti Business Women, Mariagrazia Rocchigiani, education and partnerships officer with the FAO, Luciana D’Ambrosio Marri, workplace sociologist and management and leadership expert, Massimiliano Zampini of the Interdepartmental Center for the Mind and Brain (CIMEC), Sandra Fiore, CNR press officer and art historian, and Elena Frosio, modern art historian graduate from the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.

Food, health and art in the past, present and future

Women are bringing to the field of agriculture a notable amount of imagination and innovation, often distinguishing themselves and their services and products. Women have launched a new chapter of farming when talking about art and food: art is the food of the spirit, and if we do not nourish our spirits well, we run the risk of withering. At a time in which the eye also wants its due, nothing is left to chance, as the perception of food, the presentation of dishes and their evolution in paintings is a new area of growth for female farmers.

Today’s journey, then, was a trip through the  past, present and future in the world of international cooperation, psychology, science and art that put the role of women in agriculture on center stage. To conclude the meeting, Roberto Moncalvo, national president of Coldiretti, remarked that, “I am happy about this moment of reflection and meeting here at Expo Milano 2015, which increases the contribution by Coldiretti at the Universal Exposition. One in three farmers are female, one in three businesses in Campagna Amica [Country Friend] are women-owned and almost half of the new farm businesses with Campagna Amica are in the south. Women are blazing a trail of optimism that is fundamental for farming, for our food and for the future of Italy as a whole.”