World Bread Day: the Consortium’s balance sheet
Record attendance yesterday in Altamura for the events organized by the Consortium for the Protection and Enhancement of Altamura PDO Bread on the occasion of World Bread Day.
The day began with an important conference on the theme “About twenty years after the DOP: the potential of Altamura bread and the opportunities offered to the entire production chain by the PNNR” which saw considerable public participation. In addition to the president of the Consortium Lucia Forte, Giuseppe Pupillo, ABMC President, Professor Federico Pirro, associate professor of History of Industry at the University of Bari, Professor Loreto also took part in the Conference, moderated by the journalist Enzo Magistà. Gesualdo, Director of University Nephrology of the Policlinico di Bari, Professor Amarillide Genovese, Professor of Agricultural Law of the European Union of the University of Bari, Cesare Baldrighi, President of Origin Italia and former President of the Consortium for the Protection of Grana Padano PDO, Francesco Sgherza, President of Confartigianato Puglia, Luigi Trotta, Manager of the Competitiveness Section of the Agri-food Supply Chains of the Puglia Region and Gianluca Nardone, Director of the Agriculture Department of the Puglia Region and prof. Michele Fino Director of the Third Mission of the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo. During the conference, the importance of enhancing the role of the Consortium which stands as guide of the entire supply chain emerged in order to protect, enhance and promote Pane di Altamura PDO which, due to its characteristics and its notoriety, still has a considerable potential to express. Promoting Altamura Dop bread means promoting and enhancing the culture of a territory and the most performing values of tradition.
Many initiatives were promoted during the day, from the photographic exhibitions “Pane Nostro” and “Nel Nome del Pane” set up in the Church of Santa Croce, up to “L’Arte di Antonio Cosola” an exhibition of bread stamps from the collection of family. There was no lack of spaces dedicated to the theater which, in the Church of San Domenico, featured the representation “Little Mysteries”. And then, the presentation of the book “Pane Nostro”, by Pedrag Matvejevic, in the church of San Domenico. Piazza Duomo, on the other hand, was the location of the show cooking with the starred chef Vitantonio Lombardo and of tastings and demonstrations “Mani in pasta”, in which the production of Altamura bread was staged, which was particularly appreciated by the public intervened. In the late afternoon the Eucharistic Celebration was held with the Bishop Emeritus of Altamura, Mons. Mario Paciello. The evening was instead dedicated to concerts with the performances of Eva Immediato and Daniela Ippolito who, at the Church of San Domenico, were the protagonists of the exhibition “Lo Cunto delle genti. Men, faith and the pursuit of happiness”. Antonio Dambrosio and Nanni Teot ended the day in Piazza Duomo with the musical performance “Affetti Sonori”.
Satisfaction among the leaders of the Consortium that had been working on the event for weeks, with the support of the Puglia Region, Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment Department and the Municipality of Altamura. “We are very happy with the success of a day which by its nature was the celebration of sharing values, as all the initiatives that enriched the program were full of references to the cultural, spiritual and religious traditions that bread evokes. The Altamura bread recipe has within it centuries of history and the deepest values of the Altamura and Apulian communities. This allows us to communicate with the world. “Seeing so many people in Altamura taking part in the events on the calendar moved us. It is the sign that there is a great desire to start afresh from bread as an element of communion. – commented the President Lucia Forte – and it is confirmation that the Consortium can and must play an increasingly important role as a driving force for the growth, including cultural growth, of the city. The Consortium, fulfilling its primary aims of promotion and enhancement (as well as protection), has the task of preserving the tradition, promoting its value under many aspects; looking to the future, through a path of evolution and production growth, entrepreneurial also marked by the values of sustainability, which allows us to keep up with the times that change and evolve quickly and which induces continuous listening and opening to the market. All moved by a single and important direction: to create added value equally distributed among all the players in the supply chain, identifying the consumer, the market, the community at the apex “.