Green Milan: The “limousin” at Cascina Battivacco

The farming area Parco Agricolo Sud Milano is located inside Milan, but here you can find an actual cattle farm, the Cascina Battivacco! 600 hectares in total, 100 of paddy fields, plus around 50 hectares farmed for fodder, maize and soya for their 40 limousins… that are not cars, but rare cows coming from France!

The Cascina Battivacco is an historical farm, dated back to 1200-1300, and now completely surrounded by buildings. Both tourists and milaneses can come here to buy genuine local food, that they can really see from where it comes! The Cascina Battivacco’s shops sell all kind of products: from milk and cheese, to jams and honey. Also here, in the past few years, there were many people wanting the farmstead to move away in order to build new houses, but now those same people look at the farm as a nice place a bit envy.

 

⇒ Watch the full web serie: Green Milan Slow Tour

Visit Cascina Battivacco official website

Visit Turismo Milano official website

 

Video full text: The limousin at Cascina Battivacco

I’ve taken the cycle path that runs alongside the Naviglio Grande,
but it’s also possible to get here using the subway system, alighting at Famagosta station,
and turning right at the iron bridge leads us directly into via Parenzo.
We’ve reached the next stage of our Slow Tour of Milan,
to see the limousins!
Luxury items, but they’re not cars, they’re cows!
Limousin cows come from France,
and these are already third or fourth generation,
so I suppose they could be called native.
The astonishing thing is that we are inside an actual cattle farm,
and one that is located inside Milan.
The farm is owed by Lucia and she is therefore the farmer.
It’s not quite the image of farming that appears in Pellizza da Volpedo’s The Fourth Estate.
You’re a little different, as are your limousins, you are very ladylike.
Can you tell me about the history of this farm in Milan?
The farm dates back to medieval times, to around the 13th and 14th centuries.
The Fedeli’s farming business has been here since 1965.
That’s momentous! The city that surrounds you has not managed to crush you.
You have a lot of land here.
Around 600 hectares in total!
Can you show me? I want to see for myself.
I can’t believe it – 100 hectares of paddy fields,
plus around fifty hectares farmed for fodder, maize and soya for your 40 limousins.
We’re in the Parco Agricolo Sud Milano.
Tell me about the DAM the Milanese Agricultural District consortium.
It’s aim is to ruralise Milan and turn it into a “countryside city”.
The consortium is formed of around thirty businesses.
It’s an ambitious project, and the idea is to reintroduce the city to its own roots,
helping it to rediscover the city’s agricultural soul.
Milan has to understand that there is more than just the tertiary sector, there’s also the primary.
When a tourist or even someone from Milan arrives at the farm, what can they do?
The first thing they see is the farm, which for children is a surprise in itself.
They can shop here, but in a different way,
because they can really see where the food comes from.
Could you show me the store? This is interesting, the famous concept of totally local produce.
Fruit preserves, honey, sausages, charcuterie,
yoghurts, meat, butter, cheeses, juices and wine.
And not forgetting the freshly laid eggs and of course the rice.
All in all it’s a comprehensive shop!
You either make the products yourselves or they come from the other businesses in the Parco Agricolo Sud.
Not everything has always run smoothly,
there was a period of rural resistance,
during which we fought tooth and nail to defend our land.
By ‘our’ I mean that of all the citizens.
The DAM consortium’s goal is not to fight but to join forces.
To find a reciprocity between the countryside and the city, just as it ought to be.
I’d stay here longer, but I have to continue on this agricultural journey,
around, or should I say inside Milan.
The Slow Tour around agricultural Milan goes on.