FRUITS, VEGETABLES, FLOURS, BREAD, BAKED PRODUCTS, HONEY, CHEESE, COLD CUTS, WINE, BEER, AND MUCH MORE…
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Antico Mercato di Volpedo (Volpedo Old Market) is a living example of recovering a local story and building for new uses, that meet the increasing need for better human relationships and healthier food.
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Volpedo is an agricultural village in the lower Curone Valley, Alessandria district (70 km Southwards from Milan). Since the 1930s the village had an important covered fruit market, centred on the famous peaches and the other products of local orchards and vineyards. Every day the village was crowded with farmers on their tractors, and with Ligurian and Lombard wholesalers on their trucks coming to supply themselves at this valuable exchange place.
In recent years distribution networks have broadened, and the Volpedo Frutta union moved its activity to another village. The old covered marked in the middle of Volpedo now was a sadly unused residue.
In May, 2014, on initiative of some inhabitants and with the support of the Municipality of Volpedo, the organic farmers of the Strada del Sale (Salt Road) association joined other producers in the area to create a new market specialized in organic food and local craft products.
The hazard of holding the market every week, rather than as an occasional event, proved to be successful: indeed, since then the Antico Mercato di Volpedo stalls can be found unbrokenly every Sathurday morning in the old covered space. People coming appreciate not just the healthy products, but also the friendly, familiar milieu that has developed with the new initiative.
Furthermore, every last Sathurday in the month, the market lasts until the afternoon, welcomes a guest organic producer from another region, features special events and experiences, and a lunch cooked with the products of the market itself which is always appreciated. To enliven events of the market and the Municipality, traditional players of the Quattro Province (Four Provinces) -- another heritage known at an international scale by now -- are often called from the Apennine valleys nearby.
In conclusion, by thinking in local terms it has been possible to give a new life to both a facility and a community, more and more in need to resume direct, simple relationships.
In recent years distribution networks have broadened, and the Volpedo Frutta union moved its activity to another village. The old covered marked in the middle of Volpedo now was a sadly unused residue.
In May, 2014, on initiative of some inhabitants and with the support of the Municipality of Volpedo, the organic farmers of the Strada del Sale (Salt Road) association joined other producers in the area to create a new market specialized in organic food and local craft products.
The hazard of holding the market every week, rather than as an occasional event, proved to be successful: indeed, since then the Antico Mercato di Volpedo stalls can be found unbrokenly every Sathurday morning in the old covered space. People coming appreciate not just the healthy products, but also the friendly, familiar milieu that has developed with the new initiative.
Furthermore, every last Sathurday in the month, the market lasts until the afternoon, welcomes a guest organic producer from another region, features special events and experiences, and a lunch cooked with the products of the market itself which is always appreciated. To enliven events of the market and the Municipality, traditional players of the Quattro Province (Four Provinces) -- another heritage known at an international scale by now -- are often called from the Apennine valleys nearby.
In conclusion, by thinking in local terms it has been possible to give a new life to both a facility and a community, more and more in need to resume direct, simple relationships.
