Buying a Christmas gift that your friends and family will enjoy is easy enough, right? How about one that does some good?

This holiday season we are offering gift baskets from good FOOD, containing the the best products from Italian GF members. There's wine, olive oil, salumi and baked goods from San Patrignano, microbrew beer and chocolate from Piazza dei Mestieri , Preserves from the trappist nuns of Vitorchiano , and Panettone from Giotto - all presented in alovely and reusable boxdesigned and created by Cooperativa Cometa.

The baskets can be ordered in a variety of sizes and with a variety of items for any occasion - for personal or corporate gifts. 

More info can be found on San Patrignano's web site under the heading "products and services" or by writing to emporio@sanpatrignano.org

Happy shopping and Happy Holidays from good FOOD!

Good Food travels fast: all the way from the fields of Afghanistan to opening night at Milan’s legendary Teatro La Scala. On December 7, hundreds of invited guests were able to sample a staple of “Milanese” cuisine, risotto made with precious saffron hailing from Alternative Livelihood projects near Herat (Western Afghanistan).

Saffron coming from DACAAR, Afghan Saffron and Faizi’s Saffron. Catering was provided by Ristorante Da Vittorio from Brusaporto, near Bergamo; chef Enrico Cerea also used saffron to create a unique version of the classic Italian holiday treat, panettone. Over 800 people were present at the dinner, including Italian Ministers and heads of state hailing from Austria, Togo, Albania, Slovakia and Rwanda.

The Afghan projects sponsored and supported by the United Nations Office on Drugs And Crime aim to create legal, sustainable economic opportunities for farmers which would otherwise be forced to cultivate opium. In fact, over 90% of the world’s heroin comes from Afghan- grown opium, but in the provinces where alternative development projects have been implemented and supported, illegal crops have been drastically reduced (see UNODC world drug report 2007).

Last October 11th marked the first ever Drugs Off Day at San Patrignano. It was an event that brought together over 1500 young people from all over Italy to celebrate another year of prevention campaigns brought to secondary schools and Universities by San Patrignano. We wanted to give these students a chance to get to know many other projects around the world working on a variety of social issues, like Dialogue in the Dark , an interactive exhibit which recreates the experience of being non sighted, or the Homeless World Cup , an organization which gives those without a roof over their head a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent their country in an international athletic event.
Two of our Italian GF partners, Piazza dei Mestieri and Giotto were also on hand to share their experience (as well as their chocolate and baked goods!).
We were ecstatic to see our good friend Freda from UNODC Colombia , who brought along images from the Colombian Vice President’s office’s Shared Responsibility campaign .

One of the day’s highlights was definitely seeing our friends Heidi and Flavia from Roots of Peace . A goodFOOD member since Squisito 2007, ROP works in war ravaged countries (Angola, Cambodia, Afghanistan, former Yugoslavia) to remove unexploded landmines and replant vineyards and fruit orchards, as well as building schools, to help local people return to a life of peace and prosperity. But one of the most interesting – and highly appreciated – projects sees ROP transform minefields into playgrounds and soccer fields (football pitches if you’re a Brit). The ROP Afghan girls’ soccer team came all the way from Kabul to play with a group of San Patrignano’s best, in a show of solidarity, sportsmanship and good will that transcended language barriers and cultural differences.

Quite a few national newspapers and TV programs picked up on the story of the Afghan girls’ team. The emotion on the girls’ faces was incredible, as was the sight of Ahmad, their coach (who lost a leg as a child when he stepped on a landmine) as he expertly bounced the ball on his head, crutches and back. One of the girls commented that it was the first time she had ever played in a field without walls – I think the girls showed many of us the true meaning of the word “freedom” that day.