Italian pastoral

Italian pastoral

Think ‘farmer' and the image of a hefty, husky man with strong hands and a stronger heart comes to mind. Perhaps he is riding a tractor, taking livestock to graze or rebuilding a fence. Let's face it: in the popular imagination farmers are more often than not men

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Thu 26 Feb 2009 1:00 AM

Think ‘farmer’ and the image of a hefty, husky man with strong hands and
a stronger heart comes to mind. Perhaps he is riding a tractor, taking
livestock to graze or rebuilding a fence. Let’s face it: in the popular
imagination farmers are more often than not men rather than women.

 

In reality, women have long played
an important role in agriculture throughout Europe’s history, often toiling as
‘invisible workers’-farm hands or helpers who harvested crops. Today, Europe’s
agricultural sector is one of the areas where female entrepreneurs shine the
brightest: women represent 37 percent of workers and owners in the continent’s
agricultural sector.   

 

In Italy, women in agriculture are among the most
influential business leaders and decision-makers in one of the country’s most
important economic sectors. Whether farming has been their family business for
generations or they are first-generation farmers, Italy’s women in agriculture
are among Europe’s largest and most dynamic crop of entrepreneurs-‘pink’
farmers who adopt ‘green’ policies and promote the traditions of local and
rural communities. They are also part of a new movement: currently, 51 percent
of agricultural businesses are owned by under-40s. In 1999, the first the Associazione Donne in Campo (‘Women in the Fields
Association’) was established as part of the larger Italian Confederation of
Agricultural Workers. A force to be reckoned with on the national level, the confederation
boasts a Donne in Campo division in every region, each with the principal
mandate of furthering equality of the sexes in agriculture and promoting
females leaders in this historically male-dominated sector.

 

The regional chapters organize seminars, conferences,
workshops, courses, food markets and fairs. They seek to advance greener and
more sustainable agricultural policies that favor rural communities, maintain
local traditions, improve rural living standards, and support rural development
policies. They also work to ensure that more social services are available to
working mothers in rural areas, like additional daycare centers, schools and
improved public transportation. 

 

A major cause is reducing the time
and energy it takes to get fruits and vegetables from their farms to fork. In
fact, the first Donne in Campo association was born in 1999 in Turin’s Piazza
Carignano when a group of women farmers started holding a fruit and vegetable
market where they sold their fresh, local produce directly to consumers at a
lower cost.

 

The market in Turin was such a
success that it spurred other women to start doing the same. From Latina,
Ravenna and Parma to Bologna, Lecco, Mantova and Florence, the country’s female
farmers were among the first to anticipate Italy’s more recent ‘return to the
land’ and to promote the consumption of environmentally sustainable and locally
grown foods.

 

Tuscany’s Donne in Campo association was born in 2001
and today its members represent all aspects of agriculture, ranging from grape
growing and cultivating OGM-free crops to agritourisms and other forms of
sustainable rural tourism. In Florence, members of the Donne in Campo are found in Piazza Santa Croce, where they sell
their produce directly to customers the first Saturday of every month at the
Mercatale di Firenze farmer’s market. For more information on Tuscany’s Donne
in Campo, see www.donneincampo.it.

 

Celebrate Women’s Day

with the Donne in Campo

 

On March 8, Donne in
Campo farmer’s market in Piazza Santa Croce celebrates Women’s Day. Called
L’altra metà…della terra torna in piazza, the market is a unique opportunity
for consumers to learn about where their food comes from and how it was
cultivated and for farmers to interact with the end-users of their locally grown  ‘zero-kilometers’ foods.

 

 

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