Alimentary Education and didactic farms

The theme of nutrition is vital in promoting effective, widespread and active protection of the population's health and as such requires a daily commitment to effectively and concretely improving the quality of life. The importance of food education, as well as that of wellbeing and awareness, is far more extensive than current interest in the theme which, at times, merely regards diet, regulation or "logical prohibition".

The food educational programme of the Piedmont Region, in fact, is based on an all-comprehensive programme of studies (from farming to history, diets to psychology, and anthropology to commodities) to help consumers discover the pleasure of food and nutrition.

The programme's main objective is to promote the knowledge of farming and more specifically of the agri-food system through understanding the existing relationships between production systems, food consumption and protection of the environment, in order to:

• Promote a healthy lifestyle, involving schools and families and creating a positive relationship;
• Develop a critical conscience to help people make informed choices;
• Promote the participation of citizens in protecting the environment;
• Endorse high quality products;
• Protect local traditions;
• Educate citizens on the culture of taste;Promote awareness of citizens' and consumers' rights.

Didactic farmsteads are adequately equipped and prepared to welcome students, groups, families and anyone wishing to further their knowledge on farming activities, food production cycles, life cycles of animals and vegetables, and the professional and social role of farmers, educating people on consumption and respect for the environment, through practical learning based on observation and discovery.

Qualified organisations and specifically trained operators included in the Region's list of didactic farms offer visitors the chance to experience farming from its many various aspects: business, technology, culture, livestock farming and production of goods and services, in a balanced and sustainable relationship with the cycles of nature and the environment.

Didactic farms therefore represent a "showcase for new agriculture" and through their contact with schools establish a network of relationships between producers and young consumers on a rediscovery of the identity, and cultural and ecological values of agriculture and the rural world.

Find the didactic farm that interests you most