Rome, 25 November 2021. Minister Stefano Patuanelli participated today in the signing of the Statute of the Food District Council. The representatives of the Districts, the Conference of Regions and Autonomous Provinces and the ANCI met at the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies to sanction the constitution of the Council that allows the territories and their many traditional, cultural and tourist expressions to networking, thus amplifying the effects of the projects and funding made available by the various measures of the Mipaaf and by the policies of the Government and the EU.
Together with the Minister, Undersecretary Gian Marco Centinaio, representatives of agricultural associations and MEP Paolo De Castro discussed the propulsive and connecting role of the Districts and the Council.
Minister Patuanelli underlined the value of initiatives such as those of the Consulta for supporting the “distinctiveness and excellence of our products which constitute an absolute value of the Italian economy. For this reason, the supply chain contracts and the food districts were financed with additional resources in the budget law in order to enhance this proximity tool that allows the Italian agri-food production systems to fulfill the sustainability effort to which agriculture is called in this such a complex phase for our planet. The National Strategic Plan of the new CAP must also be the result of important choices made by the actors of the agri-food system that follows the direction of the road already identified by the Food Districts ".
Lastly, Undersecretary Centinaio highlighted that “the Food Districts are an important reality in our country, which has a dual purpose that of enhancing the territories and the Italian agri-food sector. Two elements that must go together. The objective on which we must work is to combine the territory more and more with food, so as to enhance the internal areas as well because behind a product there is also a history and a culture that we must know how to tell ".