Rome's Olive Oil Production on Public Farm Supports Community, Sustainability

Summary

The city of Rome pro­duces extra vir­gin olive oil from cen­tury-old olive trees at Tenuta di Castel di Guido, Europe’s largest pub­lic farm, using a blend of local vari­eties unveiled at the first olive oil fes­ti­val held on December 15^th. Revenue from sales of the olive oil is rein­vested in the man­age­ment and main­te­nance of the farm, which is now under long-term man­age­ment by the city coun­cil and regional coun­cil, allow­ing for new projects such as renew­able energy sources and a recy­cling sys­tem to reduce waste.

The city of Rome pro­duces extra vir­gin olive oil from 1,500 cen­tury-old olive trees nes­tled in Tenuta di Castel di Guido, Europe’s largest pub­lic farm with 2,000 hectares.

The organic blend, made from typ­i­cal local vari­eties, Frantoio, Pendolino and Leccino, was unveiled to the pub­lic dur­ing the first olive oil fes­ti­val held at the estate on December 15^th. 

It was also the occa­sion to cel­e­brate the recently received Olio di Roma PGI cer­ti­fi­ca­tion.

The extra vir­gin olive oil is partly used for sol­i­dar­ity projects, while the rest is sold. Revenue from sales is rein­vested in the man­age­ment and main­te­nance of the farm.

“The olive har­vest at Tenuta di Castel di Guido is of great sig­nif­i­cance for Rome, as it is a rare exam­ple of a city hav­ing its own pro­duc­tion of extra vir­gin olive oil,” Sabrina Alfonsí, Rome’s coun­cilor for agri­cul­ture, told Olive Oil Times. 

“The value of this prod­uct lies, on one hand, in its high qual­ity and, on the other, in its being a tool to imple­ment inclu­sion and envi­ron­ment projects,” she added.

Under an annu­ally renewed agree­ment, Rome has long pro­duced olive oil at the Castel di Guido estate, owned by the Lazio region. However, the city author­ity recently signed a new deal with the regional coun­cil and obtained the long-term man­age­ment of the farm.

The city coun­cil said in a state­ment that the multi-year direct admin­is­tra­tion of the prop­erty will allow for bet­ter orga­ni­za­tion of activ­i­ties, open­ing the pos­si­bil­ity of rede­vel­op­ment, includ­ing build­ing an olive mill.

Several new projects are already being worked on. Renewable energy sources will soon power the farm, and a recy­cling and com­post­ing sys­tem will be applied to reduce waste to zero.

Besides olive oil, Tenuta di Castel di Guido pro­duces organic fruit, veg­eta­bles, cere­als and milk. It is used for cat­tle breed­ing, and its graz­ing area is home to the largest herd of Maremma cows in Lazio. The estate com­prises a vari­ety of ecosys­tems, includ­ing woods and Mediterranean scrub.

The ori­gins of the estate date back to Roman times, when the area was already ded­i­cated to agri­cul­tural activ­i­ties. Over the cen­turies, the estate has passed under the con­trol of var­i­ous own­ers, includ­ing the Catholic church and the national gov­ern­ment.

The 30-hectare olive orchard adjoins a farm­house host­ing a small rural her­itage museum. The struc­ture, built in the early 1940s, pre­vi­ously served very dif­fer­ent pur­poses; it has been used as a bunkhouse for pris­on­ers and interned civil­ians dur­ing the fas­cist regime when the farm was trans­formed into a labor camp.

Nowadays, all the build­ings on the estate host edu­ca­tional activ­i­ties and ini­tia­tives by non-profit asso­ci­a­tions and orga­ni­za­tions. Among these is LIPU, the Italian League for Bird Protection, which over­sees 250 hectares.

Home to numer­ous flora and fauna species, Tenuta di Castel di Guido, is part of Natura 2000, a net­work of pro­tected areas cre­ated by the European Union to con­serve the most valu­able and threat­ened species and habi­tats. 

Due to this sta­tus, the area is sub­ject to strict reg­u­la­tions to pro­tect its bio­di­ver­sity. However, vis­i­tors can freely visit the estate and par­tic­i­pate in guided tours.

“Agriculture in Rome means par­tic­i­pa­tion, com­mu­nity growth, sol­i­dar­ity and sus­tain­abil­ity,” Alfonsi said. ​“This is a real­ity in var­i­ous areas of the city, like in the Nuova Tor Vergata and Torre Spaccata neigh­bor­hoods, where cit­i­zens’ asso­ci­a­tions take care of the olive trees in pub­lic parks and dis­trib­ute the oil obtained to peo­ple in need.”

“Quality organic agri­cul­ture con­tributes sig­nif­i­cantly to pro­tect­ing the envi­ron­ment, the soil and the land­scape,” she added. ​“Furthermore, the Olio di Roma PGI cer­ti­fi­ca­tion obtained demon­strates that the prod­ucts of our ter­ri­tory can be rec­og­nized as excel­lences, being a dri­ving force for eco­nomic and tourist devel­op­ment.”

• Roma Capitale