Feeding Fascism

The Failed Campaign Against Pasta

Tony is firmly pro-pasta

In July 1943 Benito Mussolini lost his grip on the Italian government, and his fascist reign of terror began to dissolve. Like so many dictators before and after, his economic policies in Italy lead to a recession, food shortages, and isolation from longtime trading partners. Sound familiar? Food is always part of the fascist playbook. To celebrate his arrest and removal from power, the Cervi family in Campegine began cooking over 800 pounds of dried pasta, pastasciutta, as a delicious and powerful “fuck you” to fascist rule in Italy. The Cervi brothers carted this pasta, dressed simply with butter and cheese, into the center of the village and gave it away to anyone who wanted a good meal. They were cooking up resistance. It might not seem like that big of a deal, but Mussolini and his fascist regime had tried to demonize the beloved food and stop Italians from eating it. Yes, they tried to get Italians to stop eating pasta. Fascists are dumb as hell, no matter the decade.

The Cervi brothers via Casa Cervi

An important tenet of fascism is to create the image of a self-sufficient society, even when it makes no sense to have closed economy. Whether it’s dumbass tariffs or insane economic policies, isolating the population under fascist control is all part of the script. These dumb fucks are not original. As part of his Battle for Grain, Mussolini wanted to make Italy completely independent from foreign wheat. As a result of this policy, farmers all across the country grew wheat instead of other crops which lead to widespread food shortages of wine, cheese, dairy, meat, vegetables, and fruit. To reduce the demand for wheat, a propaganda campaign against pastasciutta was launched. and lots of talking points might sound familiar to US citizens today. Some things never change.

Marinetti eating pasta because these dudes are alway hypocrites

A popular cookbook in 1932 by Filippo Tommaso Marinetti, co-author of the Fascist Manifesto, parroted out Mussolini’s talking points, arguing that pasta made the people who ate it feel depressed and lethargic because you swallow it instead of chewing it like other food like rice. Umm, ok I definitely chew pasta, but I guess you could eat it like a pelican if you wanted. He also argued that “[p]asta kills the noble, virile and warrior soul of the Italians.” Yeah, pasta is for pussies apparently. I’m surprised he didn’t say that it would cause you to grow boobs. Marinetti would have made a killing on TikTok selling that dumbass logic to MAHA and Joe Rogan fans. In the forward of The Manifesto of Futurist Cuisine, Marinetti states “Pastasciutta, however agreeable to the palate, is a passéist food because it makes people heavy, brutish, deludes them into thinking it is nutritious, makes them skeptical, slow, pessimistic[.]” While this argument got plenty of press all over Italy and the world, it didn’t really change people’s minds. Gaslighting can only do so much and nobody in their right mind hates pasta. In fact, the mayor of Naples famously replied to this anti-pasta campaign “the Angels in Paradise eat nothing but vermicelli with tomato sauce.” It’s hard to argue with that.

me in heaven

Obviously, none of this worked out. Food shortages got worse as World War II raged and Italians grew tired of having their lives and dinner plates controlled by the whims of a dictator. As the years pressed on and outrage grew, Mussolini was then forced to import more goods than ever before to try and appease a hungry and increasingly angry population. A total failure like all fascist policies and fascist regimes. Two years after his loss of power and the Cervi brothers’ anti-fascism pasta party, Mussolini was shot as Allied forces entered northern Italy and his corpse was famously strung up and desecrated by Italians in Piazzale Loreto in Milan. A fitting end to an absolute asshole. The world’s love of pasta has only grown since Mussolini died. Every year the Historical Anti-Fascist Pasta of Casa Cervi is celebrated at the Alcide Cervi Institute in Gattatico where they continue to promote anti-fascist ideals, freedom, justice, democracy, and the history of the Cervi family. And naturally, the pasta is always free.

my kind of party via Casa Cervi

As fascism tries to take control here in the US, it’s important to remember all the times it’s failed. We can still change the course of history, we just have to push back. Fascism ruins countries, ruins families, and absolutely ruins dinner. I know that I sure as hell don’t want the current administration telling me what I can and cannot eat; they’ve got horrifying taste. We need to tell the fascist to get fucked as loudly as we can until they slither back under the rock they crawled out from. They’ve been defeated before and will be defeated again because fascists are hateful but also dumb as rocks. Americans won’t accept a king and Italians will never hate pasta. Those are just the facts. And when the day comes, you’ll find me in the streets cooking up a bunch of pasta. I hope to see you there.

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Tomorrow in the Sunday recipe club, we’re cooking up a big pot of White Chili with Shredded Squash and Garam Masala to get us through the weekend. Not on the list?

You know what to do.

Did you know about the campaign against pasta? Can you imagine a similar thing happening in the US? Let’s chat about it in the comments.

Xoxo,

Michelle