CREMONA – ‘Aura’ stands for ‘Elderly a resource to feed’. The acronym was invented by Lorenzo Morelli,
After the age of 75 there is a drastic reduction in the absorption of nutrients. Hence the idea of finding a way to act on baked goods, bars and drinks so that they can have the characteristics that facilitate the absorption of the nutritional properties that the body is no longer able to retain on its own
full professor of microbiology at theCatholic Universityand summarizes an innovative project both in the proposal and in the implementation methodology: finding the right foods, designed and created ad hoc for healthy over 75s and doing so to maintain an adequate and controlled nutritional practice. The project has obtained funding of five million euros from the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy and involves, in addition to Cattolica, the companies Rivoltini, Teracell, Panificio Cremona and Harg. «Everything starts from a scientific awareness – says Morelli -: after the age of 75 there is a drastic reduction in the absorption of nutrients. Hence the idea of finding a way to act on baked goods, bars and drinks so that they can have the characteristics that facilitate the absorption of the nutritional properties that the body is no longer able to retain on its own. La Cattolica has put its research experience, the companies that have joined the project their production peculiarities, in the sign of a network of interaction that finds in Agorà Networkk its environment for comparison and meeting between companies, the needs of the territories and our present and research». Agorà Network is an initiative born from the territory, because arises as part of the Agri-Food Lab agreement between the Catholic University, the Municipality, the Chamber of Commerce, the Province and the Diocese of Cremona through the Gregorio XIV Institute for education and culture.
Aura – of which an operational meeting was held yesterday in Cattolica – promises to be a unique experience of its kind and above all in the perspective of creating a series of products that can rebalance the nutritional needs of an autonomous and non-hospitalized population over 75without giving up the pleasure of food. «The university with research, the companies with their ability to do: all together we will proceed to the creation of food prototypes that will be tested to understand the effect they can have on the physical deficiencies that occur with age – he continues -. We have particularly focused on the factors that lead to weakened muscles and the immune system. The Covid experience has highlighted our fragility, the need to take care of the weakest people. And in this context not only Aura, but also the Cremona Be care project arises: everything is linked in the sign of well-being and awareness of an aging population that needs attention to maintain a high quality of life».
«Aura is one of the projects born within the Agorà Network – he observes Massimo Rivoltini —. Agorà is the continuation of that avant-garde and important experience for us entrepreneurs which was Cremona Food Lab. Entrepreneurial and local development is built with real synergies, mutual listening». Morelli observes: «The response from the Cremonese companies amazed us. A sign of the long positive wave that the Cremona Food-Lab project has left in the area. In a short time, ten challenge proposals arrived, business innovation design ideas that we collected and presented to the students». Aura is one of them.
