The Italian context
The web site / portal www . retegas . org , amongst the most important web sites about Italian Epg ’ s situation , counts with 989 EPG ’ s associations enrolled , the great part of these is situated in the Po Valley area , only Lombardy hosts little more than a quarter of the national total amount . According the estimates , It is possible to add to this thousand groups a noticeable number of associations abstained from enrolling or , at least , not signed up yet : potentially we are talking about a greater number than that of the enrolled associations , as indicated by the rates of 2011 presented at the National Convention of EPG ’ s , in Aquila .
Anyway , the numbers available show a general growing awareness of the importance of a conscious purchase and a conscious consumption . This trend , proved by the continuous birth of new EPGs and of associations directly connected to the central concepts of “ responsible consumption ” and “ critical consumption ”, is designing a new dynamic reality , still in evolution . The first Italian EPG was founded in 1994 and in 2011 ; Retegas . org recorded only 750 participant groups . Considering that EPG ’ s spread is a recent fact , the current size of the phenomenon let us reflect about its relevance .
Despite this overview , apart from Lombardy , in the other regions of Italy , Umbria included , the data related to EPG ’ s birth and activity are more restrained . Even though Umbria was the first region which adopted in 2011 an EPG oriented regional policy , which sustained EPGs , the data recorded during our research were the followings :
� 16 EPG formally registered , among these ones 13 signed up to Retegas . Org ( however there are other “ informal ” EPGs that can ’ t be counted ); � The great part of Umbrian EPGs are located in the province of Perugia � 2 of the EPGs founded during the data collection doesn ’ t work anymore / are inactive , and one has serious management difficulties ;
� Furthermore , differently from other Italian regions , in Umbria there is not a coordination between the regional EPG .
Anyway , apart from numeral data , the philosophy of Umbrian EPGs agrees with the principles of the EPGs of the rest of Italy . The main interest is the research of biological and natural products , provided by local producers according to production ecofriendlytechniques and fair and respectful working policies ; EPGs put s the economical
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