Eat Your Way to Restoring an Ancient Italian Forest

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| Thu, 09/16/2021 - 06:14
italian forest

On the night of 29 October 2018, winds travelling at 200 km per hour (124 miles an hour) hit northern 天美传媒. Codenamed Storm Vaia, it was the largest single windstorm event in recorded history to hit 天美传媒.

The emergency services were on high alert that night, as call after call came in from panicked residents, talking of blackouts and fallen trees, of roofs blown off.

But nothing prepared them for what the cold light of day revealed, after the storm had passed.

Unbearable devastation
Some of Europe鈥檚 most beautiful and productive forests can be found in the mountainous Dolomite region of 天美传媒. But Storm Vaia uprooted the trees like they were sticks, sending waves of them crashing down the mountainsides. When photographers made their way to the region to make a reckoning of the damage, it was beyond their worst imaginings. Lush forest had been turned into a moonscape.

Arabba鈥檚 forest before the devastation
Arabba鈥檚 forest before the devastation 

The storm destroyed 42,500 hectares (105,000 acres) of forest in the Dolomites alone鈥攖he equivalent to 70,000 soccer fields. In Veneto, more than 12,000 hectares (29,6000 acres) were affected. Forest animals have lost their homes and moved elsewhere. The Comelico Dam near Austria that had once built Venetian palaces. 

Arabba鈥檚 forest before the devastation
Arabba鈥檚 forest before the devastation 

A total of 8.6 million cubic meters of trees were wiped out 鈥 a number so vast, it will be more than a century before they return. A real disaster.

鈥淎fter Storm Vaia, our land is no longer the same,鈥 says Leandro Grones, the Mayor of Livinallongo, a commune in the heart of the Dolomites in Veneto. 鈥淭he destruction of the plants has changed the morphology of our valley, making it very weak, especially in inclement weather.鈥

Arabba鈥檚 forest after the devastation
Arabba鈥檚 forest after the devastation

There was worse to come. Heavy snow from winter 2020 caused the remaining, but weakened trees in the forest around the famous Dolomites village of Arabba, to collapse. The fitness trails and paths where people went foraging for blueberries and mushrooms vanished.

Reka Haros and her husband Pier Sfriso, co-owners of Sfriso Winery and Best of Veneto in 天美传媒, were shocked by the devastation.

Arabba鈥檚 forest after the devastation
Arabba鈥檚 forest after the devastation

鈥淲e have family in the Dolomites,鈥 says Pier. 鈥淭he destruction of the forest that鈥檚 taken place in the past several years has broken our hearts, and I knew we had to do something.鈥

Food with a mission 
created The Kindness Box as a charity food box to help restore the lost tracking trails in Arabba. Every cent from every sale of a Kindness Box will go to Arabba, not a percentage of the proceeds. All of it. 

Each Kindness Box is full of food hand-made by artisans who are immersed in the region鈥檚 food traditions. The box will include Fettucine ai Funghi Menazza by the historic and iconic Pastificio Menazza in Belluno; Sugo ai Funghi Porcini from Tradizioni Dolomitiche; Renaz Vecchio cow cheese from Latteria Livinallongo made from the milk of local cows that graze freely in the mountains surrounding Arabba; and Radicchio in sweet and sour by Rosa Alpina, along with Figul矛 crackers. It鈥檚 an aperitivo and primo piatto worth of food. 

The Kindness Box
The Kindness Box

The food is sourced by Reka and Pier, who only work with top artisans in the region. The Kindness Box has been specially curated with top local products to give an original flavor experience of the Venetian Dolomites. This isn鈥檛 just high-quality food鈥攊t鈥檚 a taste of Veneto and more specifically an authentic taste of the Dolomites. 

The forests belong to everyone, not just the people who live there. And climate change is putting it in danger together with the animals that belong to the forest. The more Kindness Boxes people buy, the more we can do to help the forest return to its former glory. The charity project will run until the end of September, and the boxes will ship in November, just in time for the end of the year festivities. 

It is a perfect end-of-year gift because kindness is a language everyone understands. The aim is to pre-sell at least 500 boxes by the end of September. The price of the box is 鈧75 plus shipping. You get authentic Italian mountain flavors to share at your table while being kind to our environment.

The Kindness Box will be an annual Best of Veneto project, with the proceeds going to a different cause each year. 

But this year, the proceeds are going to the forests.

For more information about the Kindness Box and how you can support this charity project, please visit

鈥淒ue to Brexit, unfortunately, we had to temporarily suspend UK deliveries. We apologize for the inconvenience.鈥