Organic Food in Venice

This article contains information about organic food in Venice.

Organic food takes many formats throughout Venice. The most prevalent ways to purchase these goods are as follows: farmer's markets, Gruppi D'Acquisto Solidale (GAS), Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), farm to table, and slow food stores. There has been a 162% increase in sales of organic goods since 2007 all across Europe, going from 1.87 to 2.1 billion euros from 2007 to 2014 in Italy alone.

Figure shows some of the farmer's markets in Venice. The ones boxed and labeled specialize in the sale of organic food.The Rialto Market (red) has been in existence for years, the permanent markets (blue) sell goods daily, and the weekly markets (green) are available one or two times per week.

===Farmer's Markets===

Farmer's are scattered all across the historic center of Venice, as indicated on the map. Farmer's markets bring together local producers to provide fresh goods to local consumers. They can occur weekly, biweekly, or monthly, depending on the demand. Farmers sometimes even participate in multiple markets in order to maximize their profit. The best farmer's markets maximize the diversity of goods offered, and in doing so limit competition between the farmers.

File:GAS.JPG

The locations of the existing Gruppo di Acquisto Solidale throughout Veneto, as represented by the green dots.

===Gruppi D'Acquisto Solidale===

A Gruppi D'Aquisto Solidale allows locals to get food directly from the producer. These are increasing in popularity as time going on. There are 15 registered GASs located in the Veneto region, and only one in the historic center of Venice, itself. The GAS in Venice is called GAS Veneziano. It has 245 members and 36 suppliers. The locations of the existing Gruppo di Acquisto Solidale throughout Veneto, as represented by the green dots. Out of the producers identified, 48.6% sold produce(vegetables and fruits), 28.6% sold Dairy (Cheese, Milk, eggs, etc), 28.6% sold Dry Goods (Alcohol, Pasta, Herbs, etc), 22.9% sold Meat (Beef, Pork, poultry), 5.7% sold seafood, and the remaining producers sold other less common items including baked goods, and specialty food.

Community Supported Agriculture

Community Supported Agriculture allows individuals to purchase directly from farmers. In CSA, a producer sells a share of their goods to an individual consumer. This individual becomes of member of the CSA for a price and receives whatever the farm has to offer. A local CSA business is DonnaGnora. They deliver produce once or twice a week to 150 families in Venice and Mestre.

Farm to Table

An example of a farm-to-table restaurant is Osteria Plip, located in Mestre. The head chef, David Marchiori, utilizes food from local farmers as his ingredients for the meals that the restaurant prepares. His goal is to support local producers. He said, "we want to promote local little farmers and producers," and "we want a strong neighborhood community." He even has pictures of all the producers hanging in the restaurant.

Slow Food Store

An example of a slow food store in Venice is Stràbon. They sell organic and specialty food, with products made in and around Venice.

Sources

1. Dufour, C., Maffucci, C., Newman, E., Wang, P. (2016) "Recreating the Neighborhood Marketplace". PowerPoint Presentation. Web. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
2. Adam, K. L. (2006). Community supported agriculture. Butte, MT: ATTRA-National Sustainable Agriculture Information Service.
3. I gruppi D’Aquisto Solidale Veneti Nel 2011: Una Fotografia D’insieme. Retrieved November 11, 2016.