Over the past 20 years, misguided
policies favoring the construction sector and penalizing farmers
have driven people away from rural areas and caused Italy to
lose 15% of its countryside, the Coldiretti farmers' association
said Tuesday in its Earth Day statement.
This means that farmed land has been reduced by 2.15
million hectares, with some 1.2 million farms shutting down.
Every day, 288 hectares of farmland are lost, exposing some
five million inhabitants to the risk of landslides and floods,
Coldiretti said.
To reverse this destructive trend, the government needs to
enact policies to protect and promote agricultural activity in
harmony with people whose consumption patterns prove that more
and more people support local farmers and local products,
according to Coldiretti.
One in three Italians shops at one of the 1,200 farmers'
markets that have sprung up in major Italian cities at least
once a year, and while food sales dropped by 4% last year due to
the recession, purchases at farmers' markets jumped by 67% in
2013 alone, Coldiretti said.
Earth Day is celebrated annually on April 22, with events
held in some 192 countries to demonstrate support for
environmental protection.
The theme this year is green cities.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
