Greening Rome - Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City - page 254

il trattore (The tractor), a social cooperative constituted in 1980 with the objec-
tive of reinserting disadvantaged children in the social and economic fabric of
the city through rural activities, particularly through the production of organic
vegetables. il trattore manages 4.5 ha and has recently opened a shop selling its
own vegetables and fruits as well as organic produce from other farms in the
region. as part of its didactic activities, il trattore organizes visits to the stables,
to the vegetable gardens, as well as seminars and lectures about techniques used
on the farms. New activities such as honey production and cultivation of flow-
ers are well underway. The cooperative sells its products to an organic bistro, la
Casa del parco (The house of the park), located inside the park and which also
organizes summer camps in situ for children. la Casa del parco and il trattore
are connected with other didactic farms located in the peri-urban areas of the
city in such a way as to form a real urban farms system.10 The final example of
persistence and resistance of urban farming in Rome is the acquafredda estate:
249 ha of cultivated farmland in the western part of Rome, half a mile from the
busy ring road, transformed by the city authorities into an urban park/natural
reserve in 1997. The following story shows how urban farming in Rome, both
on the small and larger scale, is a preeminently political activity because it goes
against powerful landowners and builders. of the 249 ha estate, 11.7 ha are owned
by the Vatican, specifically by the Capitolo san pietro, which is the administrator
of the landed patrimony of the holy see. on this land live ten farming families
who rent the land, continuing a practice rooted in the papacy's historic feudal
role in the city. The Vatican had not used the 11.7 ha for over a century, but lately
it has changed its mind. Given the relatively central location, the Capitolo san
pietro would like to develop its property with new apartments that eventually
would be sold on the market. Consequently, the tenants have received eviction
letters. apart from ethical considerations, the main problem for the Vatican is
that the 11.7 ha estate is preserved and building on it is de facto prohibited by
the law.11 when the interests of powerful Roman landowners pit against public
interests, negotiations ensue. while the farmers and their political sponsors were
demonstrating in saint peter's square in early 2011, shouting “benedict, why do
you want to evict us?,” the political representatives of the city and of the Vatican
were making a deal. The city agreed on an exchange of land whereby the Vatican
would give the municipality its 11.7 ha (to be left as agricultural land farmed by
the same families), and the city would give the Vatican another 11.7 ha of unbuilt
public land in another part of Rome where the holy see, through its developers,
has the right to build 210 m2 of apartments.12 The exchange has been criticized
as the latest in a long series of gifts made by the city's lay administration to the
Vatican. The querelle seems appeased for the moment. The farmers can keep their
small homes, work the land, and sell their produce along the street; the Vatican
has again successfully pressured the civic administration while Rome, the city,