Even for Italy, this is pretty Italian:
In Italy, a simmering debate over a jump in pasta prices has forced the government to convene a crisis meeting this week.
Adolfo Urso, the country's business enterprise minister, called for a Thursday meeting of a new commission to discuss the increase in the price of pasta, according to an official at the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak candidly about government matters. Pasta prices were up 17.5 percent year-over-year in March, local media reported, citing the ministry.
You might think this is all overblown. I mean, hey, it's pasta. Is it too expensive? Buy some rice. Boil a potato. Come on, people!
But no: This is Italy. These people take their pasta as seriously as Americans take their guns. Pasta is Italy's national sport, national dish, and national motto all in one. People in Italy place a great deal of importance on their pasta. They do this sort of thing at least twice a day:
It's serious business. And Italians want you to know that. Furio Truzzi, the president of the consumer rights group Assoutenti, asks us plainly how we'd feel if it happened to us:
"Pasta is a primary food for the Italian diet. Increasing its price would be like raising the price of corn cob for Americans."
Hmmm.
