11359 alternative shopping in italy

I read in Oct that a new Farmers market is starting in Ortona(Abruzzo) anyone been yet or know more?

If you are heading from Pescara towards Rome come off the autostrada before Manoppello Scalo and follow 'old road' joining autostrada again at Alanno/ Scarfa on the left just after the turn to Manoppello there's a farmers stand selling all types of fresh fruit veg and home-made preserves.You have to sound your horn to get owner to come out to serve you!

Like the UK there are now more and more rules and restrictions for Italian producers. We know of a cheese maker near the village of Belante in the Abruzzo, who can no longer sell his magnificent cheeses from his home. The cost of meeting all the European regulations makes it impractical. So a great many producers simply operate by word of mouth. My neice has tried to market food producers in East Anglia, again they are good at what they do but not at marketing the products. It's not just an Italian thing. Ask around because word of mouth seems to be the best method but not the path to making it big!

There's a latte crudo machine I occasionally pass and have even cycled to (I'm not driving kilometers for milk!) and it's gorgeous: makes good yoghurt as well and I'm tempted to make some cheese too. At €1 a litre it's good value. Perhaps not for pregnant women but the only time I've ever had food poisoning was from _pasteurised_ milk cheese; the unpasteurised I've eaten with unintended mold and had no problems, and outbreaks of listeria I've read about have always been in pasteuurised cheeses.

There's a farmer's market every third Sunday in the main square at Aosta and coming up there is the Sant'Orso fair which is huge and includes lots of food stalls. There's been a farmer the years I've been with a jersey milk cheese that is like hard solid cream it is so rich!

Sue ; I'm chomping my way through lots of Christmas cheese at the mo all varying degrees of rankness but I'm still here and I swear it helps the cough!

Seriously I was thinking about a map ( like a google map) with arrows on to denote locations of special suppliers or markets in Abruzzo.

I'd be happy to put it on my website if the forum wasnt interested.

Or would I be aiding the 'food police' in shutting down some of these places??

Thoughts please!!

Interesting question re the Food Police. I have family who live just into the Abruzzo from Le Marche. When there we can buy fantastic vegetables and cheeses but all from places that I think, the Food Police would shut down if someone upset the applecart! Here around us in Umbria, within a short driving distance of Passignano sul Trasimeno, I know of only one place that sells orchard fruits in season and sometimes a bit of veg. There's a cheese seller with a sign saying fresh ricotta but the locals do not recommend it. We, as a consequence, rely on gifts or the local fruit and veg shop in Passignano which has a magnificent range, including expensive exotic stuff! If anyone has "secret info" please PM me but I won't drive too many kilometres for such things.

[quote=adriatica;107517]

anyway i have put in a series of links into this post for those interested in good food, clean food and ways of buying... maybe it will help people get to know some neighbours and join in alternative Italian life... or even allow people producing something organic here to promote their products via this system...

all these sites need support and help with updating information on local produce...places to eat... it is somewhat strange that many producers here get all the production side right and yet the marketing just doesnt seem to enter into their minds...they have a wealth of sites to use... but often unless a younger generation is helping the Internet is not a place they tend to think of

am not suggesting giving up on lidls or anything like that... my point if any is that a combination and a sense of balance regarding whats available and what you can afford to buy or choose to is there for all of us....[/quote]

In addition to Abruzzolutely's post I'd like to mention that Slow Food Italy, the volunteer organisation, has "condotte" in every region and that they often do just that, promote quality products from the small producers and sometimes "saving" traditional products for dying out helping with marketing and the like.
As an organisation it is changing a lot at the moment, from the earlier "happy-go-lucky" gathering of people with a passion for food and wine, to an international organisation with a clear political scope in order to influence politicians - which you may condivide or not -but you do not nessesarily need to become a member to participate in the events.
I can only say that for my part, in my first years in Abruzzo, it was an exiting way of getting to know the culture and story of the region (always followed by a glass of wine..), and the small producers with their excellent products, which you would normally not get to hear about. I have participated in courses on cheese, wine & olive oil tasting, vertical wine and beer tasting evenings, visits to olive mills, sheep and black pig farms in the mountains, small cheese-makers seeing them at work, visits to lots of wineries, to the De Cecco-pasta factory etc.
If you check the internet for a regional website, you may find valuable information about your region there.(Non-members normally pay a couple of euros more for the event than members).

With regards to marketing, the internet is not in Italy seen as an attendible way of getting clients. At least not by the older generation. The culture is not yet there, and most people don't want to use credit cards online. If you want to sell, you must be close to your market, and most is done by word-of-mouth.
Communicating the story and the genuinity of a product through the web is not that easy. People have to come and visit you to appreciate what you do - or at least taste your cheese first. Then what happens: you take it home to the UK or whatever - and it has lost it's magic..some products are just best consumed in their local surroundings, don't know why that is.

Personallly I always go to the winery for my bottles and to the micro brewery for that special beer, just as I have my favourite bakery where they still use a wood-fired stone oven - but that doesn't mean that I don't also shop in Lidl and Conad.

Ciao
Liset
(sleeping member of the Pescara slow foood comittee - just to keep things straight :-)

So what are Pollo d'erba are they freerange ( or as one Italian translated to me 'wild' ) or corn fed?

Once I get to the bottom of creating my 'google map' and placing it on my web site I'm going show the location of any farm shops markets local wine honey producers in Abruzzo.I will indicate if they are organic but not exclude non-organcic producers from the map.

I'll post a link once its up and running.

[quote=myabruzzohome;108579]So what are Pollo d'erba are they freerange ( or as one Italian translated to me 'wild' ) or corn fed?

Once I get to the bottom of creating my 'google map' and placing it on my web site I'm going show the location of any farm shops markets local wine honey producers in Abruzzo.I will indicate if they are organic but not exclude non-organcic producers from the map.

I'll post a link once its up and running.[/quote]

No, the "pollo d'erba" eats grass :bigergrin: . They are freerange and good for biological farming, you find loads of info on the AIAB website, they also have their own (polloderba) website.

Good idea with a list of the farmers markets, but how far are you willing to travel to buy vegetables?
Anyway, if your wine has to be biological, you may want to check out Chiusa Grande winery in Nocciano, Agriverde in Ortona (also other bio-products) and Stefania Pepe in Alba Adriatica (also biodinamic, sun, moon and stars..). These are the bigger and most famous ones, then you'll find 6-10 smaller wineries scattered around the region.

hi maybe not too far but increasingly there are small producers of cheese etc opening up on farms or in villages and these are the type of enterprises I was thinking of.

Then I may recommend Azienda Agricola Mario Verna in Guardiagrele for their cheese.
They are a real km 0 venture, making the cheese from milk from their own herd of cows.