La surplus fruit in the fields that becomes solidarity tool and support for the less well-off. If then it comes to tons that, as the Minister of Agriculture Teresa Bellanova says, it is not possible to collect it because there is a lack of manpower, then the right to give it to those in need is unassailable.
What happened to the Agribusiness Center of Rome (CAR) in the first months of this 2020 is truly extraordinary. From January to April they were recovered 90 tons of fruit and vegetables in excess and distributed to the social network of Rome and province. Data that clash with the social cross-section and with the political positions contrary to the regularization of foreign labor in the fields. Thanks to the supportive commitment of companies, volunteers, distributors and traders, the difficulties have reduced.
The demand for fresh food received from the CAR in the midst of the coronavirus emergency increased by 400% compared to the usual averages. The special distribution network ensured that they came donate a total of 150 tons of fresh fruit, vegetables and fish. In short, the CAR, transformed into an incubator of solidarity close to the most fragile during the quarantine and without media hype. They have been distributed 750 portions to 15 between families, lonely elderly people and homeless people. A good example supported by organizations that have found that the closure of work activities also affected sections of the population considered to be well-off. The lack of food has been felt everywhere, while, in fact, the country has to deal with land without growers, excellent products at risk and lost capital.
The percentages of these months speak for themselves, they explain to the CAR, with families (on average with 2 children) in difficulty who correspond to 60 per cent of the beneficiaries of the donations. The distribution of fruit carried out by the collaborating voluntary associations concerned not only the suburbs of Rome but even neighborhoods that previously could be defined as wealthy.
“These are worrying data – explains Fabio Massimo Pallottini, general manager of the CAR – and which should make us reflect. After the economic storm caused by Covid-19, the theme of food and poverty will be increasingly topical". For this purpose the Center has decided to offer periodically a report on access to food, donations and fragility with the slogan "food and solidarity, the strength of the network". It will be a sign of continuity, after the emergency, with the good practices of solidarity and support for the nutrition of large sections of the population.
