Food: Symbola-Coldiretti, 93% of PDO and PGI products are produced in small municipalities

93% of the typical national products that are consumed are born in the 5,538 Italian municipalities with less than five thousand inhabitants, a heritage of taste and biodiversity that also drives tourism, with 2 out of 3 Italians (65%) among those who will go on holiday who will visit a village in the summer of 2024, according to Ixe’. This is what emerges from the Coldiretti/Symbola study on “Small municipalities and typicality” which aims to tell the story of a food and wine heritage of the country preserved outside the traditional tourist circuits, enhanced and promoted thanks to law no. 158/17, first signed by Realacci, with measures for the enhancement of Small Municipalities.

So, 297 of the 321 Italian products with a designation of origin (DOP/IGP) recognized by the European Union have to do with the Small Municipalities which, in detail, guarantee the production of all 54 cheeses with a designation of origin, 98% of the 46 extra virgin olive oils, 90% of the 41 cured meats and meat products, 89% of the 111 fruit and vegetables and cereals and 85% of the 13 bakery and pastry products. But thanks to the small towns, 79% of the finest wines that represent Made in Italy in the world are also guaranteed. A heritage preserved over time by the 279 thousand agricultural companies present in those territories with a daily commitment to ensure the protection of historical agricultural crops, the protection of the territory from hydrogeological instability and the maintenance of food traditions.

“The summer holidays are also an opportunity to rediscover our typical products linked to the territories and small municipalities. The small municipalities – says Ermete Realacci, president of the Symbola Foundation – are an extraordinary opportunity for Italy: a more human-scale economy that focuses on communities and territories, on the intertwining of tradition and innovation”. “To safeguard this national wealth, it is necessary to create the conditions so that the resident population and economic activities can remain. – says Ettore Prandini, president of Coldiretti – It is therefore essential to combat depopulation, which also worsens the situation of isolation of agricultural companies and increases the tendency to dismantle the services, garrisons and security forces present in the territory”.