Collaboration Between Co.Svi.G., Slow Food Tuscany, and UNISG Leads to Study Trip Exploring the

Thanks to a three-year agreement between the Consorzio per lo Sviluppo delle aree geotermiche (Co.Svi.G.) (Consortium for the Development of Geothermic Areas) and the University of Gastronomic Sciences, as of this year the university’s international master students will participate in a very special study trip in a region of Tuscany that is historically notable for its development of geothermic resources.

This region, comprising the communities of Volterra and Massa Marittima, features a number of naturally occuring steam vents and geysers. It is also the site of a network of human-made steam ducts—stainless steel pipes that funnel geothermic steam towards a central electrical generator and other usage points.

UNISG students will be hosted by the Centro Internazionale per il Trasferimento dell'Innovazione Tecnologica (CITT) (International Center for the Transfer of Technological Innovation) in Monterotondo Marittimo, and will visit several businesses that are part of the Comunità del Cibo ad Energia Rinnovabile (CCER), a community of food producers using renewable energies in south-central Tuscany. The primary academic objective of these activities is to examine what Slow Food Tuscany and Co.Svi.G have achieved to date through their project Gusto Pulito (“Clean Taste”), which seeks to promote food production techniques that employ sustainable energy, including from geothermic steam and other renewable resources.

Of this effort, Slow Food Italy president, Roberto Burdese, says, “Slow Food’s multiyear relationship with the communities of producers working with traditional geothermic resources will be greatly enriched by this important visit. The encounter between our UNISG master students and the local producers will be mutually stimulating and beneficial.”

The first day of the visit is dedicated to cheese production, with visits and tastings at two facilities that use renewable energy in their production processes, the Caseificio San Martino and the Caseificio Podere Paterno, both in Monterotondo Marittimo. On Wednesday, June 22, the students will find themselves in Radicondoli at the social cooperative Parvus Flos, to analyze how an organization can take advantage of the structural potential and low cost of geothermics, for example by using steam as a source of clean heat in greenhouses. The following day, after an excursion to Biancane (“the smoking lands”) in Monterotondo Marittimo and the Fumarole di Castelnuovo Val di Cecina, the group will visit the Geothermic Museum of Larderello in Pomarance, where they will learn about the history of geothermic energy including the techniques of research and drilling.

Before returning to Piemonte, the students will also learn about a number of important gastronomic products: wine, at the Castello Banfi di Montalcino; olive oil, at the Franci di Montenero d'Orcia mill; beer, at the Amiata di Arcidosso brewery; and, at the Poderina di Castelnuovo dell'Abate, other typically Tuscan products such as Brunello di Montalcino and Moscadello wines, and Mostarda d'Uva (grape mustard). The final event in the program is a visit to the Poderina Toscana, in Montegiovi-Castel del Piano, one of the sustainable-energy community companies, which uses biomass and solar power for olive oil and wine production.

“The experience that our students will bring forward,” explains UNISG dean, Valter Cantino, “will contribute to an understanding of how we can integrate geothermic energy and food within small- and medium-scale, high-quality food production. This represents a key challenge in concretely linking the idea of environmental sustainability with economic resource development, as well as consumer education about products made with ‘green’ ingredients—not just edible ingredients, but also the energy that goes into a food product.”

About Gusto Pulito
Gusto Pulito (“Clean Taste”) is a project brought about by Slow Food Tuscany and Co.Svi.G., inspired by an idea from Fausto Costagli, leader of the Slow Food Monteregio convivium, along with the convivia from Volterra–Alta Val di Cecina and San Gimignano–Alta Valdelsa (in the provinces of Grosseto, Pisa, and Siena). The communities in these areas have come together in the use of geothermics as a source of renewable energy that has a reduced impact on the environment.
“This is our idea of the future,” says Slow Food Tuscany president, Raffaella Grana, “a cultural model for using clean energy that comes from the earth, the sun, and from nature in general, and which allows for production in harmony with good, clean, and fair food. We can live and eat thanks to renewable sources of energy, and Gusto Pulito is an example of that.”

Co.Svi.G.
The Consorzio per lo Sviluppo delle Aree Geotermiche (“Consortium for the Development of Geothermic Areas) was founded in 1988, primarily for the promotion of socio-economic development initiatives in the field of geothermics, as well as to aid in fulfilling technical and financial requirements related to the use of endogenous resources. The consortium, composed of local authorities (townships, provinces, mountain communities, and municipal unions) in the geothermic regions of Tuscany, has over the years enlarged its purview, also supporting the creation of a Renewable Energy District. Today, it also offers project-based consulting services to those interested in geothermics, and participates in a number of international undertakings.
Along with Slow Food and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiverity, Co.Svi.G has established the first Comunità Mondiale del Cibo ad Energia Rinnovabile (“Worldwide Community of Renewable-Energy Food”), in which members use “green” energy in the food producion cycle. For more information, visit www.distrettoenergierinnovabili.it.

CCER
The Comunità del Cibo ad Energia Rinnovabile (“Community of Renewable-Energy Food”) was founded on the principle of safeguarding the environment and using renewable energy within their production processes. They strive to provide a concrete example of global excellence in the promotion of sustainable development methods.
Member producers include the Caseificio Podere Paterno, the Fattoria dell’Antica Filiera, Parvus Flos, and the Poderina Toscana. For more information, visit www.distrettoenergierinnovabili.it/der/sezioni/cibo.

For more information, contact:

Alessandra Abbona - Elena Baravalle
UNISG Communications Office
Piazza Vittorio Emanuele 9
12042 Pollenzo – Bra (CN), Italia
tel +39 0172 458 505 / 507
fax +39 0172 458 550
comunicazione@unisg.it
www.unisg.it