Italy set to be first-ever country to ban synthetic food

Italy will ban synthetic foods, said Agriculture Minister Francesco Lollobrigida at an event organized by the European Conservatives and Reformists with the participation of EU Agriculture Commissioner Janusz Wojciechowski.

On Monday, a bill banning the production, import and sale of food produced in laboratories will be discussed in the lower house of parliament.

The event, titled “Tradition and Innovation: A Conservative Future for European Farmers”, leading conservative politicians discussed the challenges and opportunities arising from European regulation and cooperation in the field of animal husbandry, agriculture and the green economy. Lollobrigida and Wojciechowski participated remotely.

“Italy will be the first country free of synthetic food and wants to set an example of how it can be regulated,” said Lollobrigida, who participated remotely in the event held in Kilkenny, Ireland.

“We have chosen the precautionary principle […] Food quality is fundamental and we cannot accept a society divided in two, where quality food is produced only for the rich elite. We believe that everyone should have the opportunity to eat well,” the minister added.

Lollobrigida’s position is largely shared by the European Commissioner for Agriculture, Janusz Wojciechowski.

“As a commissioner, I am in favor of traditional agriculture, I am very much in favor of natural products. The labeling system does not depend on me, but I try to protect traditions,” Wojciechowski explained.

“Synthetic meat is not meat, synthetic milk is not milk. I am defending a natural product, and using the name of a natural product for a synthetic product, in my opinion, is not a step in the right direction,” he added, noting that the European Commission allocates more than 6 billion euros to support animal welfare and traditional agriculture in general.

However, the model of agriculture proposed by the Conservatives is in stark contrast to the one adopted by the EU, which, according to the Italian ruling party, the Brothers of Italy, is too bureaucratic and unable to address the new challenges facing the continent.

“Farmers, breeders and fishermen risk paying a very high price for the ideological mistakes behind the European Union’s Green Deal, which punishes producers with emission reduction targets that will only lead to a decrease in food production,” explained MEP Carlo Fidanza, leader of the Brothers of Italy delegation to the European Parliament.

“In the medium term, the reduction in food production will be replaced by more imports from countries that do not meet our sustainability and quality standards or by laboratory products that we have no confidence in,” he added.

Tags: Italy