Arrigoni Award: at the Sonzogni Institute of Nembro the recognition in memory of the gastronomic journalist.

The prize awarded by the Francesco Arrigoni Committee , which brings together family, friends and colleagues of the food journalist who died prematurely in 2011, returns for its ninth edition. A return consistent with the choice made last year, when the recognition intended for agri-food realities that stand out for their particular ethical content was exceptionally assigned to the Papa Giovanni XXIII Hospital in Bergamo, in order to support the indispensable work at the service of collectivity.

The Francesco Arrigoni 2021 Award goes, in fact, to another expression of the Bergamasque Community, of Nembro in particular, a municipality in the lower Seriana Valley, the true epicenter of the pandemic. In an area that has paid a very high price, in terms of lives and lacerations of the social fabric, the Committee's thoughts went above all to young people, rewarding the local Sonzogni Hotel Institute .

«This troubled period has highlighted the importance of our educational system, highlighting, at the same time, its extreme fragility. As a place for training and relationships, the school is a key tool for taking care of the scars left by the pandemic in the new generations and for this we have decided to reward the Sonzogni Hotel Institute. In addition to the approach to agri-food issues mediated by ethical values, as it is in the spirit of the Committee, the Institute stands out for the constant attention paid to each student, for thinking and acting as a real community educator » declares Antonella Colleoni , wife of Francesco Arrigoni and President of the Committee.

There are many initiatives that testify to this vocation, such as the creation of courses for adult education, aimed at promoting cultural, civil and ethical training with a view to lifelong education, and higher education promoted at the Prison of Bergamo , where this year the first inmates will take the state exams.

With this "special" edition of the Award, which does not include a public ceremony to protect everyone's health, the Committee wishes to remember with Francesco Arrigoni two other great men who have left us: Gianni Mura, a brilliant sports journalist, a great friend of Francesco and member of the Committee, and the chef Vittorio Fusari, from Franciacorta, tireless supporter of the award. With the hope of being able to pay homage to them in September, with an event in attendance at the Sonzogni Institute .

FRANCESCO ARRIGONI COMMITTEE www.comitatofrancescoarrigoni.org