WE ARE WHAT WE EAT: Culture, Environment, and Health in the Veneto Region

Introducing the study of the ways and places of product production means knowing, safeguarding and enhancing the food heritage, the agro-food offer, the civil and cultural identity of a territory. In order to be a European citizen and consumer while retaining one’s identity, the knowledge, protection and preservation of traditions and local stories are increasingly needed. On the other hand, the spread of food and wine tourism and its ecological qualification pay an increasing amount of attention to life quality, psychological and physical well-being, to the rediscovery of a healthy eating tradition, respectful of the environment.

By means of the "WE ARE WHAT WE EAT: Culture, Environment, and Health in the Veneto Region" circuit, the participants are offered the opportunity to visit the places and structures of agro-food production in Veneto: agro-food companies, restaurants, cellars, but also actors involved in mass distribution. The objective is to promote the knowledge of typical Venetian products as a safeguard of the territory and of its biodiversity, thus enhancing the discovery of the region also through the historical memory of its food history, which is re-elaborated through traditions and business experiences.
The circuit thus envisages visiting 6 different realities characterizing the Veneto territory. The participants will be given the opportunity to see companies that represent productive excellences and who have been able to recognize the value of tradition and the ways to make it prosper. The circuit consists, in an integrating perspective, of various activities related to the production, transformation, distribution and marketing of food products. More specifically, it concerns agriculture, food industry and commerce, a complex interaction of several product sectors that constitute the entire agri-food system today.

The themes that will be touched upon are the following ones:

▪ Knowing the traditional products of the Veneto territory, the historical, environmental and social roots that characterize them and have ensured their continuity over time
▪ Knowing what a typical product is
▪ Knowing the food production chain
▪ Knowing the link between the environment and the agriculture that are typical of the area
▪ Knowing the biological world

THE COMPANIES PART OF THE CIRCUIT AND THE REASONS BEHIND THEIR INVOLVEMENT

1. EcorNatura Sì (VR) – Mass distribution

2. Società agricola Melotti Giuseppe & C.s.s. – Rice Farm
3. 800simplyfood (Bassano) – Catering industry

4. Loison (VI) – Artisan bakery company 

5. Grande Hotel – terme Antoniano (Montegrotto) – Hospitality

6. Perlage wines (Conegliano - TV) – Winery

ORGANISATION OF THE CIRCUIT:

Suggested arrival airport: Venezia Marco Polo airport
Stay in: Padova
Duration: 5 days, including 2 travel days

The circuit lasts three days and includes seminars in company both in the morning and in the afternoon, with a link to other tourist-cultural discovery programs of the territory.

Depending on the season, the following activities are also possible: excursion on Mount Grappa and through the Great War sites; excursion to the Asiago plateau with a visit to some dairy factories; tour of the Venetian Villas along the Brenta river by bike; tour of parks and gardens in search of aromatic herbs; tour of the Venetian villas of the Brenta Riviera; guided tour of a Venetian city of art (Venice, Verona, Vicenza).