Dertainly man has treated himself with herbs; chemistry arrived in the medical field only in the 19th century. Today the aim is to overcome the frontier between nutrition and health through the discipline of nutraceuticals, which in Italy already generates a turnover of 3 billion euros per year, and is providing a driving force for the development of agriculture and the agri-food chain. “The use of derivatives obtained not from chemical synthesis but from products of natural origin – said Stefano Bianchi, president of ForAgri (National Interprofessional Joint Fund for Continuous Training in Agriculture) in a meeting with the Foreign Press – involves the cultivation of the necessary raw materials. The development of this sector can therefore create an increase in the demand for these products from our agricultural companies, favoring technologies and methods that are more respectful of the environment and in general a greater attention to sustainability”. Aboca President Valentino Mercati emphasizes that “Italy is in second place in the world, behind only the United States, in terms of supply. We are teaching half the world to eat well, now we must focus on prevention, convinced that the doctor of the future will give less medicine and will guide patients to eat while taking care of themselves and through the fruits of sustainable agriculture”. For Federico Vecchioni, CEO of Bf spa, the agricultural giant and innovation hub with 7 thousand hectares of land in Cortona, Ferrara and Sardinia, “the way forward is a reasoned but drastic reduction of chemicals in the fields and in food containers. I am convinced – he said – that the nutraceutical supply chain, like the food supply chain, wins only if all the players choose the common denominator of consumer well-being. In the Bf Industrial Plan – Vecchioni announced – we will look at nutraceuticals, not only as an ethical choice but to give value to agriculture”.
Article published on 14 June 2019 - 15:27
