This year at Taste, the spotlight is on the diversity of taste: those culinary excellences that, when expertly combined, celebrate and enhance diversity and biodiversity.
Cascina Oschiena is biodiversity.
Rice grown in deep, natural synergy with its ecosystem. A conscious act of giving back to the environment—first and foremost.
Our rice is born under the skies of the Vercelli rice fields, in a one-of-a-kind landscape recognized by the European Union as a Natura 2000 Special Protection Area. A heritage we safeguard every day by cultivating historic, authentic, and certified varieties.
Because true quality can never exist without protecting the land that produces it. That is why we rely exclusively on certified sustainable farming methods and uphold the highest standards of traceability.
Cascina Oschiena rice is the pure expression of our vision and our actions.
From Carnaroli Classico and Carnaroli Classico Wholegrain, to Apollo Aromatic, Selenio Originario, Ebano Wholegrain, and Granato Wholegrain—and finally, the ultimate symbol of our commitment to preserving taste diversity: Arborio Classico.
A rice variety at risk of extinction, kept alive today by only a handful of producers—and proudly protected by Cascina Oschiena.
Since 2016, our journey has expanded to include the cultivation of ancient Farro Dicoccum, grown as part of a nesting conservation project for the Black-tailed Godwit, a rare migratory bird that has chosen Cascina Oschiena as its only Italian nesting site.
Cascina Oschiena is far more than rice fields at the foot of the Alps.
It is a 16th-century hamlet set within a living landscape shaped by generations of human care: endless fields, reflective waters, streams, woodlands, and protected biodiversity areas—an ideal habitat for countless species, especially migratory water birds.
At the heart of it all lies the realization of a dream: the Natural Oasis. Created in collaboration with leading experts in ornithology, botany, entomology, and herpetology, this project has allowed us to plant over 5,000 trees and return 25 hectares of land to nature and biodiversity, land once dedicated to rice cultivation.
In 2024, Slow Food recognized Cascina Oschiena among the 10 WOMEN WHO SAVE THE EARTH.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=IFYcXtQWTA4
https://www.slowfood.it/alice-cerutti-salvare-la-biodiversita-un-chicco-alla-volta/