Big changes often start with a little step, producing anyway a considerable and decisive impact both at local and global level. And when the challenge is to convince people to believe in a more responsible and sustainable style of both producing and consuming resources – be they fuel, energy or food – to win people’s hearts one by one seems to be the best way.

Sharing and having already put into practice this approach, FPT Industrial has teamed up with Slow Food to support two local communities, in Italy and in France, in order to facilitate and accelerate their journey towards change. Founded in 1989, Slow Food is a global grassroots organization, born to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, counteract the rise of fast life and combat people’s dwindling interest in the food they eat, where it comes from and how our food choices affect the world around us. Since its beginnings, Slow Food has grown into a global movement involving millions of people in over 160 countries working to ensure everyone has access to good, clean and fair food.

FPT Industrial chose to partner with Slow Food in order to strongly reaffirm at local level its long-time commitment to Sustainability; a commitment demonstrated not only through the production of low-impact, high-performance engines, but also with sustainability projects and concrete actions, such as “Fishing for Plastic”, the initiative that made it possible to retrieve three tons of plastic out of the seas of San Benedetto del Tronto (Italy), and Urban Forestry, a reforestation project involving the planting of 1,000 trees of 32 native species in the Basse di Stura area in the north of Turin (Italy).

The two communities jointly selected by FPT Industrial and Slow Food are the cooperatives Valdibella and NoE in Sicily and La Seyne-sur-Mer Prud’homie in the Var Department in France. The Valdibella cooperative, in the Italian region of Sicily, operates in the production and transformation of biological food. Its 41 members privilege the farming of local and ancient varieties and use sustainable agriculture approaches through conservative cultivation methods in order to maintain the natural soil fertility. The NoE (No Emargination) cooperative was founded in 1993 and deals with social inclusion of disabled persons. In 1998 it received in foster care from the city of Partinico a lot of land confiscated from the mafia. This land was converted into a biological agriculture fields, cultivated with olive trees, vegetables and arable crops.

FPT Industrial and Slow Food will support the two cooperatives in their projects finalized at the creation of a “food forest” reproducing the natural eco-system and capable of diversifying food production while preserving the landscape, and at the realization of a free and autonomous supply chain model, meant do deliver good biological food to everybody at a right price.

The La Seyne-sur-Mer Prud’homie is one of the 33 prud’homies (fishing collectives) present along France’s Mediterranean coast. These collective organizations, tied to specific geographic areas, evolved out of medieval trade guilds and have been used to manage French marine resources for over ten centuries. The prud’homies play an essential control and conservation role in marine zones, preserving a historic cultural model and participating in everyday port life. The about 20 fishermen, some of them working with FPT Industrial engines powered boats, are committed to sustainable fishing and to pass these virtuous traditions to younger generations through the strengthening of the local supply chain.

Through the FPT Industrial and Slow Food support, the community will be able to upgrade its infrastructures, with a special attention to those devoted to maintain the cold chain and to improve the fish management, also in order to create additional local jobs.

These two projects are a great opportunity for FPT Industrial to promote the brand and the product portfolio including the related sustainability drivers.

“Being the leading Group in all the main World Sustainability Indexes”, declared Daniela Ropolo, Head of Sustainable Development Initiatives at CNH Industrial, “means also demonstrating, day by day, true interest and concrete support for all those initiatives which can produce a tangible change in people’s and communities’ life, be they small or big, just as the $2 million global Solidarity Fund initiative CNH Industrial has set up to support the fight against Covid-19 in communities where businesses have been affected by the virus.”

“The strong proximity of these two communities’ fields of action with two of our main businesses, marine and agricultural engines”, stated Egle Panzella, Brand Equity, Sustainability, and Heritage manager of FPT Industrial, “acted like a starter and ignited a real enthusiasm among all involved into this project. To have the opportunity of contributing to make the difference, helping people committed to a healthier, righter and more sustainable way of living and producing is part of FPT Industrial’s DNA and mission. And doing this in partnership with Slow Food is a real privilege.”

“Slow Food believes food is tied to many other aspects of life, including culture, politics, agriculture and the environment”, commented Francesco Sottile of Slow Food. “Through our food choices we can collectively influence how food is cultivated, produced and distributed, and change the world as a result. These projects had already started, but they needed ‘to accelerate’ in order to show that the right way is the right choice. That’s why we, in cooperation and collaboration with our partners and supporters, decided to finance them.