The city of Milan is ready to welcome a new forest. Special, especially because edible. It will be a real one food forest the one that will be born within the autumn of 2020 North park of the Lombard capital: ten thousand square meters of forest dotted with over 2000 plants, among trees, fruit and wood shrubs and medicinal plants. The initiative will see the direct participation of citizens, who through the crowdfunding portal WowNature.eu they will be able to contribute personally by adopting these trees; but also that of the Milanese chain of restaurants specializing in natural cuisine That’s Steam: in the specials Green Saturdays organized by the locals, 50% of the proceeds from the orders of vegetarian dishes will be donated to the cause.

«We created the Green Saturdays to combine the two aspects most dear to us: helping people take care of themselves through a natural and balanced diet and, at the same time, helping to take care of the environment in which we live together , wanted to emphasize Vanni Bombonato, founder of That’s Vapore. "Green Saturdays are a permanent initiative that in the future will also involve other geographic areas and will come to life in existing and soon to be opened premises".

Yes, but what exactly will the plants we find in this Milanese food forest be? The selection was curated by Etiforspin-off of theUniversity of Padua, engaged in projects to enhance the forest heritage and creator of WowNature. The first species that will appear within the Northern Park, and that will arise in the portion of the park of Bruzzano, are maple, hawthorn, hornbeam, cherry, ash, wild apple tree, hazel, wild pear, blackthorn, dog rose, dogwood, oak and linden. Citizens will thus be able to discover more closely the properties and characteristics of each of these native species, through three different seasonal routes, Spring, summer and autumn. Not only that, the goal will also be to stimulate curiosity for history, uses and recipes concerning these plants. A special QR Code shown on the park signs will give you the opportunity to do everything even through your smartphone.

"The project," he explains Lucio Brotto, co-founder of Etifor, "aims to create a place where people can learn the use in the kitchen of products that derive from our flora such as leaves, berries, seeds, fruits, buds and so on. With the intent, when the plants have grown enough, to make their products freely available to all with guided experiential and didactic paths. Furthermore, in a few years, each of these plants will be able to retain between 7 and 33 kg of CO2 every year . Those who decide to contribute to the collection via crowdfunding will be able to participate in the grounding event, which – healthcare emergency permitting – is expected between October and November.