FLORENCE, ITALY – The city council of Florence decided is requiring shops and restaurants to make sure that 70 per cent of their food comes from the surrounding region.
“We are seeing an unstoppable distortion in our cultural heritage, of which food is a part,” mayor Dario Nardella wrote on his Facebook page.
“A restaurant opens every week in Florence, not to mention minimarkets and Asiamarkets,” he said, referring to the so-called mini-markets, food and drink shops often run by immigrants and open all hours with liquors and trash food.
An agreement signed by the city council will force new businesses to sell local, traditional foods chosen from a list of produce drawn up by the region of Tuscany.
A special commission set up in Palazzo Vecchio will evaluate the applications of this new legislation. In the commission are present associations and international chefs.
The city’s historical centre is a Unesco World Heritage site which is visited by millions of tourists each year.