September 23 marks European Organic Day. The anniversary is an opportunity to take stock of progress, to revive mobilizations in support of organic agriculture, and to award prizes to the best expressions of organic Made in Europe.
European Organic Day, award-winning organic
European Organic Day was established in 2021 by the Trilogue (European Parliament, Commission and Council) to improve awareness of organic production. It is on this symbolic date that the
EU Organic Awards
, the awards introduced by the Action Plan for the Development of Organic Production to honor excellence in European organic production.
Among the finalists at the EU Organic Awards, Italy is in the running with four nominees in four categories:
Best farmer
The prize, organized by COPA-COGECA and IFOAM Organics Europe, is declined by gender and could be awarded to
- Sara Vezza (Sara Vezza Farm) – Località Castelletto, Monforte d’Alba, Piedmont, Italy,
- Gianpaolo Mancini (Il Sentiero del Riccio) – Sicignano degli Alburni, Salerno, Campania, Italy.
Best organic bio-district
A biodistrict is a geographic area where farmers, citizens, tourism operators, associations and public agencies come together to sustainably manage local resources according to organic principles and practices. The award is organized by the European Committee of the Regions.
In contention is the Cilento Bio-District Association – Campania, Italy.
Best small or medium-sized enterprise (SME) organic
Organized by the European Economic and Social Committee, the award is given to the best European-based SMEs engaged in processing organic products.
The Italian finalist is Gino Girolomoni Cooperativa Agricola – Isola del Piano, Pesaro and Urbino province, Italy.
Initiatives in Italy
European Organic Day is also an opportunity to assess production trends, changing consumer demand and to continue to raise awareness of an agricultural model that protects human health and the environment, as well as helping to mitigate climate change.
All this is discussed, in light of new Nomisma data, at the event organized by the City of Bologna and FederBio, in collaboration with Assobio.
September 23, 2022, 11 a.m., at Palazzo d’Accursio in Piazza Maggiore, Patrizio Roversi, television host and author, will moderate the meeting, with speeches by Daniele Ara, alderman for education, agriculture and water networks of the Municipality of Bologna, Maria Grazia Mammuccini, president FederBio, Roberto Zanoni, president AssoBio, Domenico Lunghi, director Business Unit Food Industry BolognaFiere and Silvia Zucconi, Nomisma market intelligence & consumer insight manager. The institutional presence of a contact person from MiPAAF, i.e., the ministry that is expected to be the first to incentivize Italy’s transition to the target of 25 percent organic soils by 2030, is awaiting confirmation.
Other initiatives at the local level celebrate European Organic Day. In Friuli Venezia Giulia, AIAB organized three days of events at farms and restaurants.
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
