Vendola Presents RegionePuglia @ Eataly NYC

C.B. (June 21, 2011)

June 20, 2011, NYC, Nichi Vendola, President of the Apulia Region, and Dario Stefano, Minister of the Agricultural Policies, took a tour of the Eataly Store guided by Oscar Farinetti bodily, creator and owner of the company.

Reason of the visit of the Apulia delegation in Eataly NYC was the inauguration of the promotion of traditional products coming from a region in Italy, which is showing very interesting progresses in a period of wide spread political and economical crisis.

Attending the event, which culminated in a four courses meal accompanied by a wide selection of wines from Apulia, there were, among others, the General Counselor of Italy Francesco Maria Talo' and the vice president of Slow Food Italia.

After a short introduction by O. Farinetti, the Apulia delegation took the stage. Dario Stefano, which has a very interesting background that goes from management to politics, stated: “We really appreciate the proposal of Oscar Farinetti, of being the protagonists of the promotion of Italian culture here in New York City through the good food coming from our region which is produced following rigid criteria of food security”.

Then Nichi Vendola took the stage and stated the purpose of his institutional mission: “I am proud to promote food products and the wine from Apulia. I am proud to carry with me the word “Puglia” as a good quality Brand. The purpose of this institutional mission is to make people appreciate what is on their plates… Giving you the “buon appetito”, I would like to make clear that I am not here to present the products of Apulia as better compared to other regions; this is not the challenge. We are simply different and we are happy to offer you our identity… An Italian ministry once said that Italian culture can not be eaten. But, given that in the next few minutes you are going to eat culture, I polemically wish you: “Buon appetito”.