Parmigiano Reggiano Bailout

Parmigiano Reggiano, Italy's King of Cheese, is in trouble. Robust in flavor and crumbly, it is a classic of Italy's artisan food traditions, made by hand by 430 craft producers around the city of Parma. But , press reports almost a third of producers say they face bankruptcy. Italy's Minister of Agriculture, Luca Zaia is promising to buy 100,000 Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses, and also 100,000 of its less costly competitor, Grana Padano.

Is this Italy's big cheese bailout?

The government will munch up 3 per cent of production at an estimated cost of €50m (£44.7m) and distributing it to the needy. Each 35kg wheel of Parmigiano costs between €8 and €8.50 to make, but the wholesale price has declined for the past four years even as the cost of milk and energy has soared.

"We just need a bit of time to reorganize ourselves," said Giorgio Apostoli of Coldiretti, Italy's agriculture lobby. "This is a historic product with an ancient tradition. There ought to be policies to safeguard those who produce it."

But Professor Giuliano Noci, of the Milan Polytechnic, said a better solution would be for the government to "launch a sustained marketing campaign in the emerging markets such as Brazil, Russia and India, to educate consumers to appreciate the quality" of the cheese.

Click for more video about Parma Italy.

Where do the Italians Live in Italy?

Italians are gravitating towards 14 urban areas in the country to make their homes, Censis observed in its study on lifestyle trends.

According to the report, six out of ten Italians, or 36.4 million people, now live in these areas, which make up 17% of the country's surface area. Censis identified the mosty popular areas:

• Lombardy and Veneto,
• six cities (Turin, Rome, Verona, Naples, Palermo and Cagliari),
• four coastal strips (Liguria, the upper and lower Adriatic coasts and the eastern coast of Sicily) and
• two other 'territorial belts' in Emilia-Romagna and Tuscany.

Parma, Emilia-Romagna: Head of Christ Excites Correggio in Parma Exhibition

PARMA, Antonio Allegri, known as Correggio after his birthplace, never enjoyed the fame of Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci. But art critics have placed him among the great masters of Italy's 16th century.

Antonio Allegri was born around 1490 in Correggio and then lived in nearby Parma, where he died in 1534.

Now an Italian exhibition in Parma, Mostra Corregio in Parma aims to increase awareness of Correggio's achievements.

Art fans and tourists to Parma until January 25, 2009 may stroll among the Galleria Nazionale, Camera di Sao Paolo, Chiesa di San Giovanni, and Cattedrale.

Inside Parma's Cathedral scaffolding allows visitors to climb into the dome to see Assumption of the Virgin, Correggio's masterpiece gleaming golden infinite sky.

Parma's elegant streets and sophisticated caffe's are buzzing with news that The Head of Christ inside the Parma's Galleria Nazionale fine art museum has turned typical polite discourse sour due to the controversy now surrounding the origins of the painting Head of Christ.

Is it a genuine Correggio, an old copy, or a forgery?

Go see the Mostra Correggio in Parma exhibition if you are traveling in Italy between now and January 25, 2009.

Report back your opinion on the Head of Christ by "Correggio-?" as it was recently labeled.

Click here for more video of Parma.

Click here to see video of the inventions and machines of Leonardo Da Vinci.

Web Vision Italy brought to you by the Italian Broadcasting Company brings you the best video of Italy in English, with over 500 video shows in English about Italy travel.

Italy Travel: Best Deal to Rome

Good morning Web Vision Italy subscribers!

If you are dreaming of Italy then Web Vision Italy has very good travel news for you:

$699 Rome round trip airfare and that includes 6 nights hotel!

That is correct - Dooley Vacations is offering round trip airfare and 6 nights hotel in Rome for $699 total.

But offer expires November 14, 2008. Visit Dooley's website and book now. This offer expires November 14.

Want to stay in Italy for longer than 6 nights? Ciao Italy Travel, Web Vision Italy's sponsor for years, will be happy to help you. Guido D'Ugo and his team will arrange a wonderful Italy vacation for you, your favorite people, and groups.

If you haven't been to Web Vision Italy's website recently now is a great time to see some new shows.

Isabella Dusi, author of Vanilla Beans and Brodo and Montalcino resident, launched on Web Vision Italy her new Italy travel television series On Tour with Isabella Dusi.

Isabella brings Web Vision Italy's viewers to Tuscany, Emilia Romagna, and Veneto to meet the people, taste their food and enjoy the history of Italy.

For more information about Web Vision Italy's and Isabella's 2009 group tours in Italy send an email to:

Motorino@WebVisionItaly.com and type "Dusi 2009" in subject.

Buon Viaggio,
Web Vision Italy Editors

Italy Travel: Parma - Tortellini, Puccini, Prosciutto and Parmesan

Parma, in the Emilia Romagna region of central Italy is well known worldwide as the home of Prosciutto di Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, both of which come from the Parma area of Emilia Romagna.

In the United States many people eat Parmesan cheese with their pasta, which is no relation to Parma Italy or Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano are integrally linked through the process of raising pigs, feeding the pigs, and milking the cows. All the methods are tightly controlled, which results in fine food that may only be found in this area on the slopes of the Po Valley.

These food curing processes date back to the Etruscans and then after the ancient Romans adopted the Etruscan food curing practises when they inhabited these areas from about 200 B.C. Click here to tour Parma by video with author Isabella Dusi.

Parma Italy is also know as the home of tortellini, a type of pasta, and to the famous opera composers like Puccini, Toscanini, and Verdi who all spend time in this beautiful city in the Po Valley in Emilia Romagna.

For more information and to see video about Parma Italy, visit Web Vision Italy, your camera into Italy travel.