• Coldiretti: food is guaranteed, stop at queues
  • Climate, Coldiretti: drought risk after abnormal heat

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April 25, 2020 A 500 million crack for the almost 24 thousand farms up and down the boot. A heavy figure because this year we cannot count on the classic trips in the countryside with the Italians closed at home for the lockdown started almost two months to stop the coronavirus pandemic.

This is what Coldiretti estimates on the occasion of the April 25th bridge, traditionally dedicated by many Italians to trips out of town, pending the imminent start of Phase 2 of the emergency with the gradual restart of the country. The salty count of the first missed spring trips - Coldiretti underlines - affects the agritourism system which is in great difficulty after closing weeks with 253 thousand empty beds and almost 442 thousand deserted table seats.

The forced cancellations of religious ceremonies such as confirmations, baptisms, communions and marriages that traditionally take place in this period have also weighed on.

In the spring - continues Coldiretti - all the educational farm activities that many farmhouses carry out to give children the opportunity to stay outdoors in collaboration with the schools, now closed, are also concentrated.

For the supply chain, this is a serious blow to the economy and employment, especially in light of the particularly mild climate that would have pushed the Italians into the countryside instead. Spring - Coldiretti points out - is in fact particularly appreciated by lovers of the countryside, but it is also the period of agricultural activities with the work of preparing the land, sowing and harvesting the first fruits to bring to the table.

According to Coldiretti, the farmhouses, which are mostly immersed in the countryside and have a family management with few beds, are places where it is easier to guarantee compliance with the safety measures to defend yourself from contagion outside the home.

For Coldiretti, the agritourism structures must be able to start again at the beginning of May, reopening the gates of the farms, the nature trails and the table spaces where you can taste the specialties of the peasant tradition of Made in Italy food and wine. Pending the reopening, also for the Liberation Day, several agritourisms - explains Coldiretti - have organized real picnics at home, bringing home grilled dishes, typical dishes and desserts.