Maura Cappi, aged 50 and owner of a family farm, leads a local committee in Schivenoglia, a small village in Italy’s Lombardia region. The area has a high concentration of pig factory farms. In 2017, Maura’s committee promoted and won a municipal referendum against the construction of a new pig factory farm in the area, planned by Società Agricola Biopig Italia di Cascone Luigi & C.. The referendum led the municipal administration to give its negative opinion to the project and prevented the release of the construction authorization.
The company then appealed the decision, but lost the appeal. On May 9 2019, the Lombardian regional administrative court confirmed the municipality’s decision as a legitimate choice, especially considering the high environmental cost of this kind of farms. Maura is happy with the final decision. The struggle has made her stronger, despite having had to deal with hostile acts towards her and other committee members, like for example a verbal death threat.
Maura said to Greenpeace Italy: “What happens here is not simply about growth of the farming sector. It is about an unhealthy industry that threatens the environment, the economy, the socio-economic relationships, and the future development of our territory.”