From a healthy and sustainable diet to the pleasure of living from agriculture. Among all the 2020 research on what Covid 19 meant for the quality of life of Italians, that of the Reale Mutua Observatory on agriculture is truly extraordinary. One out of three Italians said that for the rest of their lives, they would gladly work in the fields, in the most disparate sectors, in contact with nature to live and feed themselves better.
Enthusiastic young people, who for 37% of the research sample, starting from a simple passion for agri-food, say they are willing to transform their sensitivity into work.
A small denial, according to this research, to the obscure predictions of abandonment of the earth by the under 40s. On the other hand, we had seen something at a political level. The Minister of Agriculture Bellanova, just in 2020, put in place initiatives for a return of young people to farms by giving economic incentives and assigning abandoned land.
In the overall choice of Italians ready to run farms there are, however, several reasons. For 42% there is the opportunity to get closer to the traditions and the territory. 40% see the efforts of their work materialize and 32% are happy with the attachment to the territory due to the management of farms, agritourisms, or organic productions.
How much has the spread of the pandemic affected this change? Very. Over the months, the number (in thousands of people) who have seen environmental sustainability as a barrier to the spread of Covid 19 has grown.
Several university institutes have documented the greater pervasiveness of the virus with the most polluted areas of the country. It is known that agriculture there does not always reach levels of excellence and the quality of the products is threatened right from the start. Good food must always be taken into account in any therapy.
A trend also certified by Censis which has associated the perception of a healthier environment with the social centrality of food. For 47,4% of Italians, in fact, nutrition was a valid ally for psycho-physical well-being. A form of prevention inside the walls of the house.
2021 is presented as the year of recovery and mass vaccination. It is also fair to think of some political effort on the part of the institutions so that the numbers surveyed by the Reale Mutua Observatory, in a context of widespread sustainability, do not remain confined to valuable shelves.
