Pasta made from Senatore Cappelli wheat grown organically in the Maremma Park is the first step towards the conversion of all Tuscan parks, presented by Alce Nero at the fifth stop of Campi da sapere.
Il Lorenese is a granary that was active from 1830 to 1980, surrounded by the gentle hills and sparse vegetation of the Tuscan Maremma, caressed by the sea breeze typical of this area. We are at the Tenuta agricola di Alberese, in the province of Grosseto, which at 4,200 hectares is one of the largest organic farms in Europe. Here, in the Maremma Regional Park, Senatore Cappelli wheat is grown in accordance with the principles of clean farming without synthetic chemicals, giving rise to the pasta bearing the Alce Nero brand – a company with over 30 years of experience in organics.
Here, on 19 June, the fifth stop of Campi da sapere took place – Alce Nero's initiative to bring people to the places where its products are grown: honey in the province of Bologna, fruit in the Grosseto area, Apulian oil, vegetables in Veneto and, finally, wheat in the Maremma. During the event, a unique project was also presented – the culmination of four years of collaboration between the organic brand, Legambiente and Terre regionali toscane: the cultivation of Senatore Cappelli wheat in the Maremma Park is the first major organic farming experience in an Italian park, and the initial step towards the conversion of all parkland in Tuscany.
The ambition is for this to become a model for the entire country. Lucio Cavazzoni, president of Alce Nero, is a firm believer. He wants farming to be not merely an economic activity but also, and above all, a vehicle for culture – hence the neologism "agricultura" – and a "driver of positive change in society".
Sustainable use of the land within Italian parks also serves to combat the "poverty" afflicting the rural world, stressed Rossella Muroni, president of Legambiente, during the meeting held in Alberese, referring to the loss of skills, landscapes, knowledge, nutritional values and soil fertility that the countryside is suffering. All elements that can be recovered through a conscious approach that brings together the needs of environmental protection and employment with those of farming that is healthy for people and profitable for farmers.
The subject of wheat in particular is of primary importance in our country. Italy is the world's second largest producer of durum wheat, with 5 million tonnes grown between 2016 and 2017 according to Istat. It also holds the top spot for pasta production, 50 per cent of which is destined for export – figures shared by Luca Sani, chair of the Agriculture Committee of the Chamber of Deputies, during the conference.
The massive national production of this cereal has a considerable impact on both health and the environment. "Decades of developing wheat varieties intended for pasta production have led to their standardisation, regardless of the characteristics of the territories in which they are grown," explained Stefano Benedettelli, professor at the University of Florence.
This has caused soil degradation and a loss of the nutritional values of wheat, for example with a significant decline in its content of polyphenols, powerful antioxidants. To counter this trend it is essential to consume wholemeal pasta and bread, as they are richer in fibre, which contributes to gut health and helps keep inflammation levels low, specified physician and epidemiologist Franco Berrino as he explored the topic of wheat's nutritional properties.
"Through a packet of pasta we tell the story of a territory," these are the words of Sani, which describe the soul of the project by Alce Nero, Legambiente and Terre regionali toscane. A story that begins with the cultivation of the Senatore Cappelli variety in the Maremma Park and continues in the Dolomites, where the pasta bearing the Alce Nero brand is produced. In Predazzo, in the province of Trento, the Pastificio Felicetti uses the Tuscan raw material to create a quality product through the use of water that springs at 2,000 metres and the bronze-die extrusion method. "We don't want to transform wheat into pasta but to be faithful translators," so Riccardo Felicetti, chief executive of the historic pasta maker, describes the company's commitment to respecting the characteristics of this prized wheat.
So a packet of pasta is no longer just a product but encapsulates a bigger vision: that of bringing clean farming with high environmental, social, cultural and economic value to all national protected areas and to the tables of an ever-growing number of Italians (and beyond). Thanks to the fifth and final stop of Campi da sapere, at the Granaio Lorenese in Alberese we got to know the people and the organisations who, along the entire supply chain, devote heart and soul to creating a pasta that helps protect our health and safeguard our land.
