We embrace the old yet brilliant insight of Luigi Veronelli, who was the first to propose that it should be the local council that should officially recognise food specialities: its proximity to production sites and its direct interest in developing local production and distribution systems make the local council the first real guardian of our agri-food and cultural heritage. This is precisely where we begin to launch the new project by ANCI Lazio, which, even in its title, ‘Origine Comune’, sums up the main objective of its implementation. The strategy is both simple and ambitious: to bring to light and promote the development of all those traditional food specialities (PAT) already recorded by the regional administration, which are excellent from an organoleptic point of view, but which, due to their production scale, cannot aspire to PDO or PGI recognition. Many of these products already enjoy a degree of local renown, for example during religious festivals, fairs or celebrations linked to civil holidays, but they almost never extend beyond the sphere of of the village or local community, and in any case benefit from only limited economic promotion. Many specialities are at risk of disappearing for this reason, partly due to the difficulty of passing on the know-how of processing to younger generations, or, as can happen in other cases, the specialities are watered down through the substitution of low-cost raw materials from outside areas, or even from abroad. Origine Comune aims first and foremost to create a simple and practical model for the organisation of guarantee services by local authorities, adopting Veronelli’s DeCo method, but not stopping at mere product recognition, but rather integrating protection measures with the promotion of products, involving the entire productive and commercial fabric of the municipality, in particular tourism, the catering sector, and small-scale food retailers. The project kicks off with a promotional week at the Milan Expo – Cascina Triulza, as part of the Lazio Expo – Arsial project. Each day of this week is dedicated to a traditional type of product, and will feature exemplary examples of certain product types from Lazio. Following this launch event, the project will move on to a broader phase involving all the municipalities that have submitted their products for participation in the project, with the development of tailored promotion strategies. The range of products thus created can be promoted in a joint and integrated manner both locally and both within and outside the Region.