The world of agriculture and sustainability is at the center of a heated debate, triggered by a very harsh attack by the president of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini, against investigative broadcasts. Prandini called for an end to any form of “demonization” towards some production sectors, claiming that Italian livestock farming is “the most sustainable in the world”.
I think that the season has arrived, Giorgia, where we all have to work together to make it happen
that all forms of demonization towards some production sectors can cease, I said it before, our livestock farming is the most sustainable in the world, but there is no country in the world which has dedicated broadcasts which continue to look for the work of our farmers, demonizing it, attacking it, accusing it, it is not clear of what
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Coldiretti’s criticism of journalistic investigations
Ettore Prandini’s attack is peremptory: he asks us to stop attacking and demonizing the work of Italian breeders, often without clear reasons. The president of Coldiretti paints a picture in which the national livestock industry is at the forefront of sustainability on a global level, suggesting that television investigations are specious or distorted. The implicit request is to protect a sector considered excellent, questioning the freedom of journalistic expression when this affects consolidated interests.
But investigations, real and professional ones like those of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, are not created to attack the work of individuals, but to raise doubts, ask questions and, above all, bring to light the need for systemic change. It is not a question of a few breeders, claims the journalist Sabrina Giannini, but of an entire system which, in some of its aspects, deserves to be examined with a critical and constructive eye. Demonization is not the goal, transparency and improvement are.
Italian farms
The declaration according to which Italian livestock farming is the most sustainable in the world raises important questions. If on the one hand Italy boasts excellence and virtuous models, on the other the investigations show a reality that is sometimes very different. The images of intensive farming, with precarious hygienic conditions or narrow spaces for the animals, are not a journalistic invention, but a sad documented reality. We have come to see worse situations in Italy than what has been seen in other countries, with the exception perhaps of China, a benchmark that is anything but enviable.
Sustainability is not just a label or a statement, but a concrete path that includes animal welfare, respect for the environment, reduction of the use of antibiotics and a reduced climate impact. The investigations, in this sense, do nothing but highlight the areas where such a path is still far from being completed, stimulating necessary reflection and corrective action.
Beyond the bucolic image: the reality of intensive farming
Often, the common imagination of farming is imbued with a “bucolic” idea, made up of grazing animals and idyllic farms. This narrative, also widespread on some television networks, hides the harsh reality of intensive farming, which represents the majority of meat and dairy production. It is here that journalistic investigations are concentrated, precisely because it is in these contexts that the greatest critical issues lie in terms of animal welfare, waste management, emissions and impact on biodiversity.
Pesticides, multinationals and the CAP: who defends small farmers?
The debate on the sustainability of farming inevitably broadens to that of agriculture as a whole, touching on thorny issues such as the use of pesticides. Investigations reveal that farmers themselves, often members of Coldiretti, are the first victims of exposure to these chemical substances, which cause diseases and contamination. But who really benefits from their massive use? Certainly not the small farmers, but the large multinationals who hold the patents for these products, creating a system of dependence.
This is where the European Union’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) comes into play. Those funds, intended to support the agricultural sector, often end up in the pockets of the “most powerful”, large landowners and agri-food industries, instead of being distributed more equitably to small farmers, to those who practice sustainable agriculture and who represent the backbone of our territory.
Coldiretti, which often sets itself up as a champion of farmers, is questioned precisely on this crucial point: whose side is it really on? On the side of those who produce pesticides and landowners, or on that of the small farmers who ask for more funds and less poisons?
Journalistic investigations, far from being tools of “demonization”, are instead a beacon of transparency and a catalyst for change. They demonstrate that sustainability is not a given, but a constant search for better and more ethical practices. The real “attack” does not come from those who inform, but from those who, while claiming to protect a sector, end up perpetuating systems that damage the environment, animals and farmers themselves.
