The good, honest, and courageous Italy

This week, the International Food Biennial, Tutto Food, was held in Milan, and it was a great opportunity to take stock of numerous issues related to food marketing and production ethics.

2014 will be remembered as an unfortunate year for agricultural production, and the destructive aftermath continues, especially when we think of what is happening in Salento with the Xylella fastidiosa bacteria. But it’s not just nature; man has also played a part, as some areas of Campania are still talking about the "land of fires." For those who have visited these places, embarrassment and anger inevitably surface.

Who pays the price? The small farmers, those who break their backs every day to give dignity to their lives and families. We toured the pavilions and particularly took time to talk with some producers from Campania and Naples. The atmosphere was heavy. It was evident that attendance at their stands was affected, heavily affected.

Is the public no longer trusting them? Certainly, at a time when the search for certainty and awareness is a cornerstone of the new average consumer, all that has appeared in the media has distanced purchases from those areas.

But there are brave men and women who are standing up strongly against a system that has not yet defeated them and never will. They are the heroic small producers of the fertile Campania. Those who deeply believe in their land, and when they talk about it, they are one with it. We chose more than one. And today we dedicate this article to them. To their courage and honesty. Because to save that land, the only thing to do is shout to the world the names of these great men and women. People who never give up and who know they are offering only the excellence of a land where the sun, air, and sea remain unique in the world.