Marche Breaks

 

The Pianesi food label  - by www.i-sis.org.uk

 

Mario Pianesi, founder of the highly influential macrobiotic association in Italy, Un Punto Macrobiotico (UPM) (see Box), has initiated just the kind of transparent, comprehensive label that gives all the information the most discerning organic consumer might want.

Pianesi’s label has information on the entire food chain from farm to shop shelf. It tells you the location of the farm that grows the food, the area and amount harvested, the year of the harvest, the number of people employed, and the specifics of the farming method, such as the origin of the seed, how the sowing is done, what kind of organic fertilizer used (if any), energy used, whether irrigated and amount of water used, weed control, and details of processing (if any) (see photo).

The transparent food label containing everything that the organic consumer would want to know as an alternative to organic certification.

The label is already in use, and on natural non-food products as well, though not all information is available or mandatory. The advantage is that it is not a certification scheme, and hence has no certification cost attached. But the producer of the item can be taken to court if something printed on the label turns out not to be true. Consumers buy it because they have confidence in the brand and approve of the labelling scheme. This scheme is therefore most likely to work in the local community or region, and that’s good enough for consumers and farmers who support the ideal organic food system.

Mario is trying to get this label accepted by the Italian Senate, where the majority of the representatives are in favour. But he has yet to convince most of the Italian producers.

 

Mario Pianesi and Un Punto Macrobiotico

 

Mario Pianesi founded the association Un Punto Macrobiotico (UPM) in 1980. With his mother from Montenegro and his father from the Marche region, Pianesi appreciated the positive sides of the Mediterranean cuisine.

At the age of 26, he took evening courses in nutrition. When he read the book, Zen Macrobiotics by Georges Ohsawa, he learned about the ancient Chinese theories of Yin and Yang and the five Transformations. He spent the next 10 years studying these ideas, trying to confirm the application of the theories to various branches of science, and then promoted them within the UPM centres. After that, he began to organize public conferences that have continued uninterrupted to the present day. He has given different courses for doctors, teaching diagnosis and nutrition according to the two ancient Chinese theories, and he was among the first to become acquainted with iridology, the diagnosis of illnesses from the appearance of the iris.

In seeking to unite traditional Chinese and modern science, as president of UPM, he organized a series of conferences on different themes, starting with “Macrobiotics and Science” in 1995, “Culture” in 2000, “From Ancient Chinese Theory to the Sustainable Pianesian Development” in 2002,  “Rice: Fundamental Food for Human Health” in 2004, and “Environment, Agriculture, Nutrition, Health, Economy” in 2006 to coincide with the World Food Day. All these conferences still take place annually.

In 2001, UPM organized its first initiative at the Senate of the Italian Republic, presenting the transparent label designed by Pianesi, and approved so far by 88 senators.

In the same year the Association launched the “Ma-Pi Diabetes Project” in Asia, South America and North Africa, through which the effectiveness of Ma-Pi macrobiotic diets has been proven on patients affected with diabetes.

The first documented scientific results of this project were obtained in Cuba [9].  Today, the “Ma-Pi Diebetes Project” has expanded to other countries.

For his work in the service of the environment, agriculture and health, Pianesi has received recognition from various local, provincial and regional groups, and from the Society of Natural Science in Tunisia . In 2006 he received the award as “Best work in diet therapy” from the Medical Diet congress in Dijan, China ; and in 2007, he was given the degree “Honoris Causa” from the Academy of Science in Mongolia . In 2005 he was asked to serve on the UNESCO Scientific Committee for the Decade of Education for Sustainable Development.

Through the development and growth of UPM, the Marche region in Italy came to have the highest concentration of macrobiotic centres in the world, with stores, restaurants, food laboratories, factories producing natural clothing, natural footwear, natural furnishings, natural paint and construction products.

In UPM stores and restaurants, foods products are sold that adhere to strict standards and bear the label designed by Pianesi, which is also now being used on non-food products.

Pianesi directly stimulated the founding of the first organic farming cooperative in Italy in 1975, and in 1980, began to recover seeds of plants that have been abandoned in favour of hybrid seeds or GMOs. Since then, he has continued his research towards natural agriculture, proposing an original agricultural model of “policoltura pianesiana” (Pianesian polyculture).

Starting with seeds reproduced in the fields, obtained directly from farmers, the plants are allowed to revert as much as possible to their wild state, cereals, beans and vegetables are grown in the middle of fruit or other trees spaced at about 5 to 6 metres, in combination with hedges to produce a natural, balanced environment.

With this polyculture system, farmers have reported an increase in production and a significant reduction in costs, in addition to substantial positive effects on land previously turned alkaline from monoculture and intensive treatment with chemicals, achieving a pH reduction from 6.5  to 5.5 in just a few years. From the UPM Secretariat.

 

List of  Macrobiotic Restaurants and Macrobiotic Shops around le Marche

 

Un Punto Macrobiotico Circolo Culturale
Ancona Province
Via Fazioli Michele	Ancona	071 55766
Via S. Martino, 2	Ancona	071 200305
Via Malagrampa, 8	Osimo	071 7133440
Ascoli Piceno Province
Via Bengasi, 28	Ascoli Piceno	0736 255207
Viale Pacifici Mazzoni Emidio, 11	Ascoli Piceno	0736 262681
Piazzale Azzolino, 13	Fermo	0734 224254
Via Forlanini Carlo, 25	Fermo	0734 622197
Via Manzoni Alessandro, 52	Grottammare	0735 586279
Via Marconi Guglielmo, 42	Grottammare	0735 736447
Via Lungomare Gramsci, 85	Porto San Giorgio	0734 672364
Via Trieste, 235/A	Porto Sant'Elpidio	0734 903640
Via Lombardia, 64	San Benedetto Del Tronto	0735 780689
Macerata Province
Via Mazzini, 74	Civitanova Marche	0733 770583
Via S. Maria, 67	Corridonia	0733 433728
Borgo Sforzacosta, 101	Macerata	0733 203881
Via Cassiano Da Fabriano, 15	Macerata	0733 30164
Via Della Pace, 87	Macerata	0733 230387
Via Don Bosco, 31/33	Montecosaro	0733 866586
Via Sarpi, 18	Porto Recanati	071 9798141
Viale Europa, 29	San Severino Marche	0733 634549
Via Beato Tommaso Da Tolentino, 16	Tolentino	0733 969198
Pesaro Urbino Province
Via Lapis, 104	Cagli	0721 781676
Via Forestieri, 1	Fano	0721 804910
Via Diaz Armando, 36	Pesaro	0721 64268
Via Pozzo Nuovo, 4	Urbino	0722 329790