Following One Welfare Principles for Slow Animal Farming

In April, in Lazio, Pietro Venezia of VSF and Slow Food consultant Stefano Chellini met with farmers and producers from the Viterbo Susianella Presidium, sharing with them the animal farming approach that Slow Food has outlined in its position paper “Beyond Welfare: We Owe Animals Respect.” The most significant and sometimes problematic aspects of pig farming were addressed, evaluating the adoption of possible techniques that allow for better management for pigs now partially raised indoors, with consequent impacts on the animals’ well-being.

In May the vets meet with some farmers from around Stigliano, in Basilicata, and visited farms that practice semi-extensive farming of pigs and sheep. It was a stimulating environment that led to a second meeting in July, organized in collaboration with the Dolomiti Lucane Park, which is interested in developing a training program on animal welfare for local farmers.

May and June also saw several visits to farmers dedicated to reviving the Romagnola chicken breed and the Mora Romagnola pig breed. These visits and meetings took place between Imola and the Rimini area in Emilia-Romagna. The ongoing challenge here is to secure a future for the breeding of the traditional local Romagnola chicken while also being well-prepared for the potential future challenge of swine fever when it comes to the Mora Romagnola pigs.

In July, Pietro Venezia visited the Monte di Capenardo cooperative in Liguria to assess the possibility of restarting outdoor pig farming after the culling that took place in winter 2022 due to an outbreak of swine fever a few kilometers from the farm. The regulations at the time demanded the slaughter of all 70 pigs on the farm, resulting in an inevitable impact on income and future business plans. Two years later, it is still not feasible to bring back the pigs, and the results of years of genetic selection have effectively been wiped out. This selection had produced pigs crossed with the Cinta Senese breed, with rustic traits suitable for the local topography and climate.

Between June and August, Slow Food experts were in Sardinia, where they met with farmers raising the Sardinian pig breed. The number of farmers joining the new Sardinian Pig Presidium is on the rise; the project aims to promote the breed’s native genetics, the production of high-quality, traditional cured meats and the creation of a network of farmers following low-impact farming models that can ensure high levels of animal welfare. The aim is to raise awareness and inspire farmers to recognize the value of animal well-being.

The last meeting was organized in August at two Presidia in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Pitina and Varhackara. Though they are located in different and distant environmental contexts, the farmers and producers involved share the goal of accessing and maintaining virtuous supply chains for the supply of ingredients. The meeting helped raise awareness among farmers about the principles of One Welfare.

A video explaining One Welfare

Partially recorded during a with poultry farmers at the Vuerich farm in Malborghetto, near Udine, in 2023, in the following months this short film has been expanded with other clips filmed at farms that raise Romagnola chickens in Emilia Romagna and at Nuove Rotte in Narzole, Piedmont. The words of farmers and experts who have collaborated on PPILOW are used to explain the One Welfare principles.

Communicating animal welfare at the table
From Piedmont to Sicily, the network responded to Slow Food’s appeal to raise the profile of those virtuous farmers who every day are working to protect local breeds, raising them outdoors and organically on a small scale. The program included visits to small-scale organic or extensive farms that raise pigs and poultry but also goats, sheep and cattle, as well as gastronomic evenings where farmers were invited to present their philosophy and describe the quality of the final products and other meetings delving into the issue of animal welfare. The campaign will conclude at Terra Madre, on Saturday September 28 at 5pm, with a conference that will reiterate the campaign’s content and hear the experiences of farmers who follow good, clean and fair animal farming models.

The challenge of African swine fever

In these weeks, Italy has seen a resurgence of one of the most worrying threats for pig farmers, whether intensive or extensive, small or large scale: African swine fever (ASF). Everyone is deeply concerned by the emergence of new outbreaks, which require farmers to adopt enhanced biosecurity measures and, for those in restriction zone III, to cull animals even if healthy. This issue affects other European countries as well and represents a significant challenge for those who aim to ensure the welfare of their animals. A complex situation was also reported in Romania at the Bazna Pig Presidium, where farmers were visited by VSF vets in April 2023.

How can we maintain semi-extensive or extensive farming practices and safeguard endangered native genetics at a time when regulations are primarily focused on containing the spread of this epidemic? VSF and Slow Food experts have been collaborating to find solutions, participating in the steering committee meetings organized by the national commissioner for ASF management in the last months of 2023. In December 2023, they submitted specific requests along with Federbio, AIAB and ARI, which have yet to receive a response.

How to ensure acceptable living conditions for animals even in this crisis context is inevitably a question that also concerns the PPILOW project partners. For this reason, in spring 2024, Slow Food and VSF, in collaboration with Prof. Matteo Bassoli of the University of Padua and the Thünen Institute for Organic Farming, used project funds to develop a survey in seven European countries (Italy, Romania, France, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark). This survey aimed to evaluate the perception of extensive, small-scale and organic farmers regarding biosecurity, the need to adopt certain measures and their level of trust in the proposed policies and management plans. This important study consulted over 240 farmers and experts to develop shared and effective measures.

Meanwhile, Slow Food continues to keep the focus on a worsening situation that seriously threatens the future of many farmers who believe in alternative, respectful and sustainable farming systems.

 This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement N. 816172.