Earth Day is celebrated on 22nd April every year. This annual event was established in 1970 and celebrates its 51st anniversary this year.

Various digital initiatives are also planned in Italy to raise awareness about protecting the Planet, on which our health also depends.

In fact, the Planet’s health and people’s health are closely related issues: water and air pollution, soil degradation and the loss of biodiversity – just to name a few – are wide-ranging problems which also have a negative effect on our well-being.

For example, air pollution is one of the main environmental risks for human health in Europe and is associated with the development of heart and lung conditions, strokes, dementia and many other diseases. While pollution of drinking water can also lead to serious infections, diseases of the circulatory and nervous systems and others. Not to mention coastal pollution of seawater: the presence of dioxins and other harmful substances, even in extremely low concentrations, can contaminate fish and molluscs, which can be dangerous to our body when they enter the human food chain.

We then come to soil degradation, a resource on which about 95% of agri-food production depends. According to FAO data, 33% of the world’s soil is “moderately” or “heavily” degraded, with devastating consequences on soil fertility and therefore on the quality of food that consumers eat. In fact, certain man-made substances, such as weed-killers, pesticides and fertilisers, help pollute the earth used to grow fruit and vegetable products, with far from negligible consequences for mankind.

The unbreakable bond between the Planet’s well-being and human health is the reason why saving the former also means protecting the latter. While on the one hand, it is essential to raise awareness among people about the value of protecting the Earth and its resources, on the other hand, the agri-food system needs to promote and encourage responsible methods of production, consumption and development that can protect both the Planet and people’s well-being. Romagnoli F.lli Spa shares these values and is investing in research and development projects to make the agri-food supply chain increasingly eco-sustainable (there is more information under the “Research and Development” section on our website).

Image by Federico Respini from Unsplash