Social farming and the economic civil vocation in Italy

Social farming has entered the non-proft world and despite the fact that it does not follow the principles of traditional market economy it has shown excellent economic results while promoting inclusion, sustainability and social impact (equity), all of which increase the value of the territory. The idea behind this paper is to show that the mission of social farming is consistent with the economic approach adopted by civil economics that emerged in XV century Italy. Bearing in mind that the European Commission for Agriculture and Rural Development has also recognized the multifunctional role of agriculture in improving the wellbeing of the community, social farming can also be seen as a way to face the current crisis.