The prize Land of Women arrives in Italy in 2016 and is in its fifth edition in Italy, it has awarded 12 women by allocating around 80 thousand euros, but is on the twentieth since its birth in France. Since then, it has continued to increase opportunities and to recognize the commitment and value of women who increasingly work for the good of Nature and the Planet, creating a community that is concerned with sustainability and environmental protection.
This year there were 70 thousand applications and the winner of the 2021 edition of a prize worth 10 thousand euros is Rebecca Zaccarini, which gave birth to Recup in 2015 and became its vice-president. His idea was born observing the reality of the neighborhood in which he lives, feeling the need to import also to Milan a good practice learned in France during Erasmus, where he takes part in food recovery groups in the city market. Rebecca received a prize worth 10 thousand euros, her motto is food that has lost economic value acquires social value. «The activity takes place in the open markets, recovering fruit and vegetables up to 300 kg per week. Between 10 and 20 people come to us, and they come every day. We want to transmit the culture of no waste and we have a social intent, we want to include anyone in this project, our volunteers are often the recipients of the service. The goal is to achieve zero waste. My dream is to make Recup a model of sustainability that can be applied anywhere in the world ”, comments Rebecca.
«The intuition was born from a trip in 2014 to France during an Erasmus project and there I realized that the food in the markets was wasted and when I returned to Milan I saw that the same was happening in the city and I got busy. Above all, many people threw food away for aesthetic reasons or because there were no cold rooms. Waste occurs in every link of the agri-food chain, there will always be some waste, but if we can prevent it, it can be reduced, with a little attention and awareness. We are present in many Italian cities and twice a week at the fruit and vegetable market in Milan and we recover a lot of food. People are starting to understand, since 2015 with the Expo that you shouldn’t waste, there is more awareness, you need to remember, have it remembered and learned by young people ».
ITS WINNING PROJECT
Recup is a social promotion association that fights food waste through participatory and inclusive action. Since 2016, the association has managed to recover almost 100 tons of still edible fruit and vegetables that otherwise would have been thrown away and every week it carries out its action in over 10 uncovered markets.
There are dozens of boxes with unsold products that are selected and distributed free of charge, especially on site. One of the cardinal principles of Recup is that anyone who helps can benefit from it, spontaneously generating a convivial atmosphere and a multicultural and intergenerational environment. During the months of the Covid-19 emergency, the activity helped almost 16,000 people a day, equal to 5,000 families in difficulty. “Paying a figure who takes care of the logistical aspect and that allows us to help 500,000 families, up to the simplest things like buying masks for those who work with us will be the destination of this award”, said Rebecca Zaccarini.
The award will allow to continue the work within the Milan Ortomercato to recover and distribute free food to people in need, involving people in need of social reintegration, and will allow to continue the awareness-raising activity in secondary schools of the second degree. . In the medium and long term, the goal is to lead the business
in all 87 open markets in the Milan area.
THE SECOND PLACE
Jessica Alessi created a project to protect the Sicilian giants, dolphins and perhaps whales, hopefully. After more than 10 years employed in the conservation of cetaceans of the Ligurian Sea, Jessica decides to apply herself in her homeland, in Agrigento, where there was no knowledge of any kind on the presence of cetaceans, founding Me.Ri.S. in 2012. with the aim of actively contributing to the conservation of this species, especially in areas where protection is urgent and knowledge scarce.
The Strait of Sicily is a stretch of sea with a high bio diversity and complex topographical structures that will generate favorable conditions for productivity and biodiversity. To date, due to the limited economic resources available, there is no information on the pelagic communities in the Strait of Sicily and consequently no protection. The perspective on which the project was born is to explore and monitor the waters of the Strait of Sicily in order to increase knowledge on the populations of cetaceans in order to know their distribution, abundance and state of health, to protect their biodiversity, threatened by the lack of protection. and from illegal fishing, drilling, excessive pollution, tourism, noise disturbance etc. Because cetaceans are excellent allies to capture atmospheric carbon dioxide and save the planet. «The donation will be used to cover the expenses necessary to carry out scientific research, increasing the equipment of the boat and equipping it for offshore navigation. The dissemination actions aimed at young people and children will also be implemented, with an on-board teaching program to raise awareness of the work of cetaceans in our seas ».
THE THIRD PLACE
A project on the right to children, access to clean water and the survival of food gardens for the health of children in a village in Tanzania. She is Daniela De Nonno, winner of the first Italian edition of the award, over the years Daniela’s commitment has never ceased to exist, making «Sanganigwa Children’s Home» an orphanage that represents an increasingly self-sufficient and sustainable reality. Especially this year, the autonomy of the orphanage has been threatened by the scarce water availability that compromises the productive capacity of the gardens. To complete the implementation of contrast and support tools, the planting of some herbaceous perennials and trees aimed at containing malaria, combating erosion and productivity is planned. Activities have been activated to ensure energy sustainability to ensure that it is a permanent structure in the future. 5 small gardens will be born that will be cared for by the mothers of the family home and by the children of the five houses and will grow organically and will be connected to a rainwater system for watering. “The prize worth 3 thousand euros will be essential to provide for the construction of the consolidation works of the water network to increase the availability of water throughout the year and consolidate the increase in fruit and vegetable productivity intended to contribute to the food safety of children . The goal is to help change the fate of some children in this context, ”said Daniela De Nonno.
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