Organic Tuscan olive oil, organic Tuscan wines, organic meat, cheeses and vegetables in Tuscany

Organic food production and cooking is popular in Italy and, indeed, the home of the movements for Slow Food and Slow Cities is also the European leader in organic farming, with around 45,000 organic farms, 2,300 of them in Tuscany. Germany, where Bio-Produkte are enormously popular, comes in second. Organic food production in Tuscany is dominated by olive oil since olive trees require little or no pest protection and organic manure is as good as or better than artificial products. Excellent organic olive oil, wines, meat, cheeses and vegetables are widely available in Tuscany, and an increasing number of organic farms are agriturismi, working farms that offer vacation accommodation. Some of them also offer meals prepared using organic products. On no account miss the opportunity to enjoy these dishes since they are often traditional recipes based on very local strains or breeds of plant and animal, and even on local species (Tuscan slow food describes some examples, and there are many others, some so local that they are identified only by their dialectical names.)

• A Tuscan salumi selection as antipasto.
• Norcia, Umbria, home of pork sausages, lentils and truffles.
• Wine making using terracotta jars.
• Porcini mushrooms in Chianti, Italy.
• Schiacciata con l’uva Tuscan grape bread.
• Porchetta – Tuscan roast whole pig.
• Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the grilled steak of Tuscany.
• Dario Cecchini, butcher and showman at Panzano in Chianti.
• Drinking coffee in Italy – cappuccino, macchiato or lungo?
• Tuscan rosé wine – Rosato di Toscana.
• A Chianti Wine Tasting Tour.
• Cooking lessons in Tuscany.
• Wine tasting in Chianti.
• Mediaeval Dinner in Certaldo – “A cena da Messer Boccaccio”.

Some organic “agriturismo” vacation accommodations in Tuscany