Strada del Riso e delle Ville: Promoting Local Rice & Heritage
It will be called “Strada del riso e delle ville” (Rice and Villas Road), the cultural gastronomic route that will pass through the area producing Vialone Nano Veronese rice with the European trademark of protected geographical indication. From the project launched last September upon proposal of Angiolino Roncarà, president of the rice section of the Unione Provinciale Agricoltori (Province Farmers Union), a committee was formed which developed a draft statute.
This draft has already been sent to the Region, and during a meeting organized by the Union at the municipal headquarters in via Vittorio Veneto, it has so far gained the approval of 10 municipalities: Isola della Scala, Oppeano, Nogara, Buttapietra, Sorgà, and the Union of the five municipalities with Erbè, Trevenzuolo, Vigasio, Nogarole Rocca, and Mozzecane. These localities will form the first ring of the route.
Commitments and future perspectives
“We have managed to meet the deadlines we set when we started this project,” comments Roncarà, “reaching in a month and a half the commitment of the involved Administrations. Before Christmas, we aim to have the project approved and to move toward the official formation of the Riposa del riso road association.”
The year 2002 will thus see the realization of the route which, combining the gastronomic journey with the architectural and historical aspects, represents an opportunity to promote the local typical product and the entire territory.
Collaborations and route logo
“The municipalities that have joined so far,” explains Alberto Fenzi, Councillor for Events, “already enable us to begin the process of establishing the Rice Road Association. Then, those who wish can join. The participation fee is one and a half million lire for municipalities with up to five thousand inhabitants and three and a half million for others.”
“We proposed to the Verona Chamber of Commerce,” adds Dino Boni, secretary of the initiative and head of the economic office of Upa (Unione Provinciale Agricoltori), “to unify the promotional identity of the rice and wine routes to present tourists with a common image.”
The project is also progressing with the preparation of the graphic symbol, essentially the logo, of the route: the idea is to represent a stylized rice ear on a white farmhouse. After the preliminary approval received during the recent municipal meeting, the respective representatives of the municipal administrations present at the meeting have committed to formalize the participation in writing and to bring the draft statute of the association to their respective municipal councils.
