Farmers’ markets are coming to 71 hospitals: prevention starts at the dinner table

Almost 100,000 people took part across 71 participating hospitals in all Italian regions, alongside over a thousand farms, dozens of regional institutions and health authorities, working together with doctors, nutritionists and volunteers to uphold a simple principle: prevention starts at the dinner table. This is the outcome of “Campagna Amica per la Salute”, the initiative promoted by Coldiretti, the Campagna Amica Foundation and the Aletheia Foundation, which has involved some of Italy’s and Europe’s leading hospitals, from the Agostino Gemelli IRCCS University Hospital and the Isola Tiberina – Gemelli Isola in Rome to the Niguarda and the IRCCS National Cancer Institute Foundation in Milan; from the Gaslini in Genoa to the Sant’Orsola Malpighi in Bologna; and on to the Policlinico in Bari, the Ospedali Civili in Palermo, the Sant’Obon Pausilipon Children’s Hospital in Naples, the San Giovanni di Dio Hospital in Florence, the Città della Speranza Children’s Hospital in Padua and the Annunziata Civil Hospital in Cosenza.

The day began with an institutional meeting at the Agostino Gemelli IRCCS University Polyclinic, the first hospital to launch the project in partnership with Coldiretti, the Campagna Amica Foundation and the Aletheia Foundation. ““We are tired of seeing patients with conditions that could be prevented,” said Antonio Gasbarrini, scientific director of the Gemelli University Polyclinic Foundation and chair of the scientific committee of the Aletheia Foundation. “We know that nutrition is crucial, especially in the first twenty years of life. The science of the microbiome has shown us that health is not merely the absence of molecular disease: it is the resilience of a complex biological ecosystem, shaped by what we eat, the environment in which we live and the experiences we go through.” For this reason, Gasbarrini added, “bringing a farmers’ market to seventy Italian hospitals is not merely a publicity stunt, but proof that the integration of protective food environments and healthcare infrastructure is possible today”.

On the other hand, according to a Coldiretti/Censis Instant Report entitled “Eat well to live better” and presented today as part of the initiative, 97 per cent of Italians consider healthy eating essential for preventing diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and obesity, but they often find it difficult to distinguish between food that is good for them and food that is bad for them. Consequently, 88% of citizens want to know the true origin of a food product and its ingredients.

“When we eat food, we need to be just as certain as when we take medicine. Today, the leading causes of death are chronic non-communicable diseases, which share a common risk factor: diet,” added Rocco Bellantone, president of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità. “Health is built above all in the contexts of everyday life; investing in prevention also means having an impact on the sustainability of the National Health Service.”

According to the Coldiretti/Censis report, 58 per cent of parents acknowledge that their children tend to abandon a balanced diet as soon as they have the chance, whilst the same percentage are in favour of limiting the consumption of ultra-processed foods. For Daniele Piacentini, Director-General of the A. Gemelli IRCCS University Polyclinic Foundation, “promoting a culture of healthy eating means reducing health risks and building a model that puts people’s wellbeing at the centre.”