Farmers' markets land in 71 Italian hospitals as Coldiretti pushes food prevention and Mediterranean diet
Coldiretti, along with Fondazione Campagna Amica and Aletheia, brought fresh local produce inside healthcare facilities on 10 July, marking a first in national health policy.
Nationwide hospital markets
On 10 July 2026, farmers' markets opened inside 71 hospitals across Italy, from the Niguarda in Milan to the Santobono in Naples, as part of the "Campagna Amica per la Salute" initiative. The campaign, promoted by agricultural organisation Coldiretti, Fondazione Campagna Amica and Fondazione Aletheia, involved over 1,000 farms and drew nearly 100,000 people, according to Il Sole 24 Ore.
A new alliance for prevention
The aim is to shift health strategy toward food-based prevention. "We bring to hospitals much more than a farmers' market – we bring a new idea of prevention, built on the meeting between the work of farmers and that of doctors," said Salvatore Loffreda, director of Coldiretti Campania. At the Santobono paediatric hospital in Naples, director general Rodolfo Conenna stressed that 80% of health depends on lifestyle, and offering zero-kilometre fruit and vegetables to children is decisive.
Alarm over processed food
Coldiretti and Censis published an Instant Report showing that in Southern Italy and the islands, 45.8% of citizens eat salty industrial snacks at least once a week, 32.6% consume packaged sweet snacks, 23.8% protein bars and 22.3% energy drinks – the highest national figures for the last two categories. The same report warns that models of consumption favouring industrial products poor in nutritional quality fuel a "silent pandemic".
- Salty snacks
- 45.8 %
- Packaged sweet snacks
- 32.6 %
- Protein bars
- 23.8 %
- Energy drinks
- 22.3 %
Rome's school canteen pledge
During the institutional meeting at the Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, mayor Roberto Gualtieri announced: "We want to be the first city that removes ultra-processed food from school canteens." Minister of Agriculture Francesco Lollobrigida argued that reducing patients through better food would cut health spending: "The solution is to bring together the excellences of our healthcare system and our food."
We are tired of seeing patients with pathologies that could be prevented. The science of the microbiome has shown us that health is not just the absence of molecular disease: it is the resilience of a complex biological ecosystem, shaped by what we eat, by the environment we live in and by the experiences we go through. Bringing a farmers' market to 70 Italian hospitals is not a communication gesture, but a demonstration that the integration between protective food environments and health infrastructure is possible today.
Mediterranean diet as frontline defence
The initiative promoted the Mediterranean diet as a primary health shield. Francesca Marino, scientific referent for Coldiretti, noted that the dual goal was to provide easier access to healthy food in hospitals and to raise awareness on the role of correct nutrition in fighting chronic diseases. In Basilicata, medical director Antonia Elefante added that preferring zero-kilometre products can limit damage from pollutants and endocrine disruptors. All 71 hospitals received baskets of seasonal produce and copies of the "Vademecum per ragazzi 'Nutrizione Mediterranea'" written by Roberto Esse and Marino.
