It wasn’t so long ago that Bank of Italy governor Mario Draghi let out that Italians earn less than their peers in any of the other big European economies. That’s probably why the recent skyrocketing price of the Italian food staple, pasta, has caused such a ruckus. Magistrates are currently investigating recent price increases that don’t correspond to increased prices in raw materials, like Durham wheat, which has been steady as a rock for years and is pretty much all that is needed to make pasta. Bread is in the same boat, evidently.
“…the gap between the price of wheat and the price of a loaf has increased by 750%” ~ ANSA
Are the industrial fat cats getting together in a way that cheats both farmer and consumer? It seems likely. And both groups are hurting for cash in Italy.
That Draghi guy gave out some figures: Italian workers earned an average of 10% less than their counterparts in Germany, 20% less than those in Britain and 25% less than workers in France.
Ok guys, that one day pasta strike isn’t cutting it. Forget industrial pasta. Let’s do (cheaper and better) homemade until the fat industrialists run out of money for Ferraris and Cuban stogies and come crawling to the local trattoria begging for some big, fat papparadelle to suck on. Isn’t that the way the real economy is supposed to work when prices get to high for real folks to afford?
Eschew industrial pasta. Chew homemade. That’s my slogan and I’m sticking to it.
Read more articles about food in Italy
The Italian Gastronomia: Good Food, Great Advice for Tourists
Pignoletto Rosso Polenta, Oh My!
Davide Scabin: Innovative Italian Cuisine
Spaghetti alla Nerano and its Derivatives