ITALIAN EXPORTS: WINE & FOOD AHEAD OF AUTOMOBILES AND AGRO FOOD IS THE LEADER IN 2011. WINE & FOOD EARN 7.1 BILLION EUROS COMPARED TO 6.6 FOR AUTOMOBILES, REVEALS COLDIRETTI. NEW ANTI-CRISIS TRADES: THE “BUTTERFLY WEDDING”, ROOFTOP VEGETABLE GARDENS

Agro food is ahead of the Italian automobile industry in value: in the first three months of 2011 wine and food yielded about 7.1 billion euros compared to 6.6 billion euros of the “motor industry”. Coldiretti, Association of Italian Farmers, reveals this data at the assembly in Rome today. “This result comes from years of work: in the last 5 years the value of Italian food products exports increased by 23% compared to a 11% drop in vehicles”.
The ambassadors of Made in Italy taste often have great success on highly competitive “native” markets, such as the invasion of Italian cheese on French tables, with a 21% increase in exports (from 57 to 69 million euros) or Italian wine in France (+26%, for 24 million euros), and orders of sparkling wine that nearly doubled (+78%, although still a niche market). Made in Italy at table has also affected Britain, the land of pubs, where sales of Italian beer are close to 10 million euros, thanks to a 27% increase. Further, exports of grappa to Russia are on the rise (+76%) as well as pasta in China (+43%). These successes reveal a spirit of innovation of a series of new activities linked to agriculture: “butterfly weddings”, or the release of live butterflies during the wedding; rooftop vegetable gardens; ostrich farms that produce feathers used for burlesque shows and agro-wellness. In short, an entrepreneurial spirit accompanied by concrete results (the agricultural GDP increased 1.2% and employment increased 6%), of which even the political and institutional framework should be given greater consideration, as the President of the Republic Giorgio Napolitano remarked: “for professionals who work with passion, tenacity and spirit of sacrifice, Italy must render social and economic recognition. These are signs that can build long-term positive economic effects”.

Focus - Napolitano: “Coldiretti is a human and patrimonial heritage”
Coldiretti is “a venerable human and professional heritage”, began the message that the President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, sent to the President of Coldiretti Sergio Marini, the various authorities present and all the participants at the National Assembly. “The agriculture industry has gone through a difficult year, during which, however, there have been major innovations: I am referring in particular to the entirely Italian project of the agricultural sector, launched two years ago and that today represents an organizational model of indubitable potential for expansion and development”, continued the Head of State. “We have established a greater sensitivity towards protection of quality and food safety in Italy, confirming the spread of a food system unanimously recognized as one of the most healthy and well balanced. This has been made possible through the many initiatives that have brought the public closer to the reality of agricultural production: Italy has to pay the proper social and economic recognition to the operators in this sector, who work with passion, tenacity and spirit of sacrifice. These are signs,” Napolitano concluded, “which will have long-term positive economic, employment and sustainability effects on our development”.

Focus – ANTI CRISIS PROFESSION
The butterfly wedding, the rooftop vegetable garden, supplying Ostrich feathers for Burlesque shows, agro-wellness - but also the magician of 100% Italian beer, the refiner of cheese from Campania, the bergamot artist and the wool spinner who transforms a business cost into profit. These are some of the extraordinary entrepreneurial experiences presented at the show “The values of new trades” at the National Assembly of Coldiretti to fifteen thousand farmers from all over Italy representing the 1.6 million members. This is the result of the profound transformation that has taken place in Italy ten years after the approval of the framework law (No. 228 of May 18, 2001) strongly supported by Coldiretti, which widened the boundaries of agriculture and has effectively revolutionized business activity in the Italian countryside by opening new employment opportunities.
In the province of Frosinone, Donatella Di Cola breeds beautiful butterflies naturally for butterfly weddings, better known as releasing live butterflies on your wedding day, started in the United States, which is becoming more and more popular in Italy. In the province of Rovigo, Terence Boscolo and Loredana Brunello raise more than 300 ostriches which not only provide meat and eggs, but also beautiful feathers that after they are washed, dried, vaporized and painted by skilled hands become the wonderful fans for burlesque shows. In Pienza, near Siena, Sienese clay combined with km zero extra virgin olive oil becomes a real rejuvenating cream for the whole body. Cucumber, lavender, rosemary and orange flowers are also great allies of natural beauty at the Casa Picchiata Farm House. Here, Gabriella and Nicholas Pagotto, thanks to the restoration of an old barn surrounded by olive trees and breathtaking views, have created a cozy relaxation area with heated pool, whirlpool, counter stream swimming, cervical jets, water beds, music therapy, color therapy and a fitness area. Their brilliant innovative ideas are a return to real economy by offering not just rewards for the creator but also creating additional workforce and representing a new source of income. Vittorio Sangiorgio, a talented Salerno nurseryman specializes in “green technology” and has created green roofs made of real plants as well as herbs such as rosemary, sage, basil and parsley. The hanging garden or rooftop vegetable garden, as he prefers to call it, not only improves energy efficiency of buildings, but also acts as an electromagnetic regulator of the waves emitted by cell phones and limits noise pollution. It also ensures better rainwater drainage and avoids flooding of roads as well as making the buildings more aesthetically attractive.
Leonardo Di Vincenzo is the inventor of 100% Italian village beer from Borgorose, in the province of Rieti. He is a biochemistry graduate student and passionate about beer. He travels around Europe rediscovering ancient brewing systems where he meets the old German or strong-willed Belgian beer masters. He tastes the most interesting beers in England, which represent a completely different culture from the Italian idea of beer. His beers reflect the influence of English and Belgian cultures, trying to Italianize a product that is normally not Italian. Angelo Madaio is a young farmer from Eboli, who together with his family has been producing refined cheeses for four generations, producing not only an authentic but also a unique product. To refine cheese by definition means to make it finer, so when the cheese is in the cellar, it is turned regularly, mold inseminated or washed. The more cheeses are refined, the more their characteristics differ and that is why the Madaio family treats their cheese naturally and passionately, highly valuing the cultural capital that the story of a family of refiners has safeguarded. The Bergarte Company in the province of Reggio Calabria produces wonderfully fragrant handmade products using only bergamot peel. They produce a very particular product: a snuff container. Expert hands first remove the pulp from the top part of the bergamot fruit, then let the skin dry out in the sun. It is then turned inside out and filled with sawdust to give it the right shape. Once it has dried, it is emptied and re-exposed to the sun before being hand decorated. There is also the case of two siblings who turned a business cost into profit. Stefano and Tiziana Ghedina raise sheep in Cortina and supply wool clothes to boutiques in the area. Once upon a time, most of the textile fibers were domestic, but today half of them are imported while the other half is made of synthetic products derived from petroleum, while Italian wool ends up in landfills with high disposal costs for the pastors as well as environmental problems. Tiziana and Stefano instead use the wool of their sheep to make Tyrolean style clothes, as well as hats, bags, slippers and stuffed toys all produced with entirely Italian wool, rediscovered after years of neglect and abandonment.