Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
private and ad hoc public sponsored urbanization following private development
(erbani 2012).
The main reason these areas are still cultivated (i.e., not built upon) is be-
cause they are included in nature reserves. in these areas, Roma Natura (Rome
Nature) promotes eco-compatible activities such as agritourism, direct sale of ag-
ricultural products, and education programs.8 in the city's nine nature reserves,
there are currently twenty-seven multifunctional farms operating according to
the guidelines of the institution and producing foods that range from vegeta-
bles to buffalo mozzarella. of particular interest because they are located very
close to residential neighborhoods are the 6,000 ha of nature reserve of Decima
malafede and the smaller pineto and Caffarella urban parks. Decima malafede
hosts thirteen of the twenty-seven commercial urban farms. agricoltura Nuova
(New agriculture) is one of the oldest enterprises in the nature reserve. it is a
rural cooperative created by a group of unemployed young people and farmers
who squatted the land in 1977. The two main objectives of the cooperative were
the creation of labor in agriculture and opposition to construction in an area of
great environmental and social value through squatting. in 1996, the cooperative,
which manages 257 ha, won a twenty-year-long legal battle with the city and re-
gional authorities, and its presence was finally officially recognized. The coopera-
tive operates without going through wholesalers. The entire production is either
sold on-site or through the Community sponsored agriculture Network, dis-
tributed in specific points of the city for pick up. The cooperative has integrated
and built on its original fruit and vegetable production and has now diversified to
include beef, cheese, honey, bread, and sweets. since 1990, agricoltura Nuova has
converted to organic production, and in 1996, its livestock became organic. Dur-
ing the week, it is possible to have lunch for a symbolic price together with the
workers in the cooperative's cafeteria. of great importance is the cooperative's
social service, which includes seminars as well as workshops with local schools.
in any given day of the school year, it is possible to meet classes of students learn-
ing the fundamentals of environmental protection and of organic farming.
smaller agro-pastoral activities like those of pre-unification Rome persist in
urban parks such as pineto or Caffarella (Dierna and orlandi 2007). Caffarella
is particularly interesting; located between Via latina and the Via appia in east
Rome, the park includes the Caffarella valley, which has been owned by the fami-
ly of the same name since the 1500s. The Caffarella barons transformed the valley
into a rural estate in which they built the Vaccareccia,9 a fortified farm where it is
still possible to buy locally made sheep's cheese. in west Rome, three miles from
the Vatican, near the Villa pamphilj park, is the Valle dei Casali (farmhouse
Valley): 469 ha of countryside which has been preserved thanks to the efforts of
a civic committee that has been able to stop the continuous, often illegal, urban-
ization of the area, in collaboration with the city authorities. The area now hosts
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