Featured projet
100% natural agriculture: olive trees at the foot of the glaciers
Since 2012, the 100% Valposchiavo project has been enhancing the unique heritage of the valley by focusing on sustainable development. Thanks to the commitment of local farmers, 95% of the agricultural area is cultivated and maintained by certified organic farms, with Bio Suisse certified products at the end of the chain. A 100% unique approach in the world!
Of course, this is directly related to the geographical location and the particular climatic conditions of the valley. Difficult to access for several hundred years, the inhabitants of Valposchiavo had to be ingenious and create their own opportunities – depending as little as possible on the outside world. Although, from the 1960s onwards, the pass road was open year-round, this isolation has left its mark on the habits and customs of the Valposchiavo.
A history full of goodness, as demonstrated by the many organic products from the valley and its traditional dishes.
100% VALPOSCHIAVO. Good products… and organic!
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What is 100% Valposchiavo?
Why 100% natural?A rare diversityA history full of creativityIn a few figuresYoung entrepreneurs who are the future of the valley
Why 100% natural?
The region has chosen to enhance its unique heritage by focusing on sustainable development. The reflection, which started in 2012, resulted in the conversion of almost the entire valley to organic farming – we are now at around 95% of the surface currently converted.
The rural economy plays an important role in the local economy: 15% of the population lives from it, while tourism occupies 8% of the inhabitants. It has adopted the 100% Valposchiavo label in order to promote and encourage local production and processing. To date, more than 150 products have been awarded this label, as well as 60 farms in the agricultural and food processing sector and 13 restaurants. A rigorous set of rules defines the entire product chain, from pasta to dairy products and from fruit to cured meats, in order to obtain this little green logo. If some of the ingredients do not come from the valley but are produced locally, another blue label (“Fait sü in”, i.e. made in the valley) may apply.
The result is a mosaic, each product contributing to the overall value of the project. Each of these actors aims to maintain and promote short production chains in which each stage – production, transformation, elaboration, sale – is local.
Recent studies confirm an increasing demand for local products; the 100% Valposchiavo project intends to respond to this demand while enhancing its food supply. To achieve this, the region has been able to rely on several assets from the outset: a dynamic and visionary agricultural sector, with a high percentage of organic Swiss certification, a rich culinary heritage and close collaboration with the hotel and restaurant sector.
A rare diversity
The 100% Valposchiavo project has received several awards: the CIPRA 2016 Award for Sustainable Tourism, MILESTONE 2016 htr from Swiss Tourism in the “Sustainability” category, SVSM Award for “Local Projects” in 2017, H2020 Liaison European Agricultural Innovation Award in 2019, and the Innovation Award of the Graubünden Union of Arts and Crafts in 2021. The response has been enthusiastic among regional players, consumers, and the media. The products involved are very diverse: fruit and berries, eggs, aromatic and medicinal plants, dairy products from several cheese dairies, cereals, a traditional bakery, cured meats and sausages, traditional pasta and even an olive grove to produce oil…
All the sectors of agriculture, food processing and catering work closely together to produce a sustainable, entirely local, high value-added chain, contributing to the economic development of the valley and benefiting all the players, beyond the tourism sector alone. This type of operation creates jobs, maintains at-risk know-how and traditions, reduces the environmental impact of transportation, and promotes biodiversity. Clean energy sources (hydroelectric, solar, biogas) are favoured and are also certified 100% Valposchiavo.
A history full of creativity
For a long time, this peripheral valley lived in isolation, closed in on itself because of its geographical situation: open to Italy and Valtelline to the south, during the winter, it was only accessible by train. It was only in the sixties that the road of the passes was made practicable all year round. This isolation forced the inhabitants to be creative: the motto has always been: “if you want a newspaper, create it yourself, if you want a theatre or an orchestra, do it yourself.”
The valley is now home to 4,500 inhabitants – once again approaching its golden age – for some 800 beds devoted to visitors, the idea being not to promote mass tourism. With about 60’000 overnight stays per year, this activity remains absolutely sustainable and does not weigh on the environmental choices of the region.
In a few figures
Valposchiavo is:
- 237 km2
- 4,500 inhabitants
- Many farmers and peasants
- 4 bakeries
- 4 butcher shops
- 6 cellars
- 2 producers of aromatic herbs
- 2 breweries
- 1 cheese dairy
- 1 pasta factory
- Numerous shops selling 100% Valposchiavo products
Young entrepreneurs who are the future of the valley
The 100% Valposchiavo project has garnered incredible momentum, with the hope of offering a future to the younger generations. Here are some examples of young entrepreneurs with delightfully creative ideas you should meet during a stay in the valley.
TIZIANO ET IVAN
Two friends with a passion for growing olives, Tiziano Iseppi and Ivan Rinaldi, embarked on a somewhat crazy project in 2017. Trained by Italian olive oil producers, they took over abandoned land and replanted some 70 olive trees of Tuscan varieties; eventually, there should be at least 200 on 2000 square meters, for a small production of organic oil.
IVAN ET STEFANIA
Ivan Lanfranchi runs an estate in Viano with his wife Stefania. In addition to the traditional crops, the couple raises rustic brown cows typical of these mountain regions. The milk is transformed into a range of cheeses made from raw alpine milk and into cheese butter.
ANNINA
In summer, the young market gardener Annina Raselli commutes between Alp Somdoss and her farm in Poschiavo. On the alp, she looks after about 60 cows. In the valley, she devotes herself to vegetables. She loves diversity, as evidenced by her 14 types of tomatoes. Two dozen other vegetables complete her production, entirely organic of course. At an altitude of 1000 m, the season is short. Thanks to a greenhouse, her goal is now to produce vegetables all year round.
AND ALL THE OTHERS…
There is also the ever-young Elmo Zanetti who, after his studies in agronomy, started growing aromatic herbs and breeding Berber horses. Elsewhere, a young baker has taken over and developed the family business around regional specialties (breads with apricots, figs, apples or pears, rye crowns with aniseed, walnut pie, etc.). Poschiavo is also home to two craft breweries and small producers of gin and grappa. Thanks to them, the future of the valley is in good hands!
Regional actors
