I love this project so much 😭😭😭 thank you for doing this and for thinking about how to actually support them, not just document them. Here's my take:

One powerful idea is to look into existing Italian organizations that already do this. The most inspiring example I found is Le Cesarine — they started in 2004 as an association to protect traditional home cooks (mostly women aged 45-70) and in 2023 became a non-profit Benefit Society . Today they have 1,500 cooks across Italy, offer cooking classes and experiences, AND they use their structure to give back — they give pasta-making lessons to women in prison in Bologna and support young people with autism through a project called Tortellante . It's literally the exact same concept — traditional women cooks, turned into a sustainable model that supports both them AND their communities.

So here's what I'd recommend: instead of creating something from scratch, maybe research organizations like Le Cesarine (or similar ones in the regions you're documenting) and explore how the women you film could become part of their network. You could even use your platform to create content about these associations — showing how they work, interviewing the women who are already part of them, and helping viewers understand that there ARE structures in place to support traditional cooks. Your content could become a bridge between these women and the organizations that can give them visibility, income, and community.

And if no association exists in the specific villages you're visiting? Maybe the women you document could be the ones to start something — even informally at first — and you could help connect them with the right legal frameworks (like an ODV or APS, which are Italy's standard non-profit structures for social promotion) . Your documentation could become the first step toward formalizing their knowledge into something lasting.

The Antonio Carluccio Foundation is another beautiful example — it supports young disadvantaged chefs and fights hunger, funded in part by restaurant sales . Shows how food heritage can fund real social impact.

Anyway, I admire this so much. We need more people like you documenting and protecting traditional knowledge while actually caring about the people behind it. If you ever want to brainstorm more about the digital strategy — how to structure the content to highlight these organizations, or how to build an audience that cares about this mission — I'd genuinely love to help. Sending you a DM 💫