Text & Photos by Rick Gush
photograph by Rick Gush
Alberto Cecconi comes from a family of nurseryman and Farmer ; his farm is now organic license and produce olives , vegetables and fruits .
It might not seem like farms in Italy have much to do with American Fannie Farmer .
They have dissimilar markets , dissimilar harvest varieties and , most significantly , different acculturation . But still , farming is all about learning ; learning from our neighbour , hear from farm advisor , and learn from our own mistakes and successes .
In this gaze , it ’s utile for American farmers to register a bit about farmers in Italy .
Although American farming is in spades the star of the Earth farming scene , we ca n’t repose on our bay wreath .
Competition from alien producer and newfangled pest is ever - increase , and the pressures of remain alive can shake even the most surefooted farmer .
Survival skills is one matter that distinguishes Italian farmers ; they ’ve been farming for several thousand year — and you certainly do n’t learn much complaining about the timber of the food they produce .
That said , American little farmers enjoy a figure of advantages over their Italian counterparts . Nice , flavorless farmland is comparatively abundant in the United States ; there ’s a wealth of university and conjunctive extension scientific assistance usable ; and the commercial-grade opportunities continue to increase for small Farmer .
But Italian small farmers have always enjoy one affair that American farmer are just set out to realize — respect from the public .
Despite , or perhaps due to , the general Italian insistence upon highly high food quality , pocket-sized farmers in Italy savour grasp from their customers that might be the highest in the world . The Italians ’ preference for locally produced and seasonally appropriate grocery is a centuries - older custom , and the number of actively cultivate heirloom variety of fruit , vegetable and brute products is remarkably high-pitched .
The Italian spiritualist reverberate this reverence for the producer of food products , and every day , at least a 12 television show feature of speech segments in which small farm producers are showcased .
Small - secret plan polish of edible crops is a predominant feature of the social fabric of Italy , much more so than in the United States .
Cultivation of one ’s own olives and veggie is taken very earnestly ; a large numeral of citizen grow some of their own food .
Italians also eat more small - farmer - produced food , and the small husbandman in Italy contribute a much higher percentage of the national total of consumed food than in other European Union ( EU ) commonwealth and the United States .
The products of small and family - fly the coop agricultural enterprises are given governmental support through an dynamic organization of local certification , and these denominations are universally respected .
Fortunately for small Italian farmers , the worst part of the current crisis in the agricultural sphere in Italy is mostly qualify to commercial-grade agribusiness , where farms that bulk - ship their products beyond local market are feeling the insistence from Chinese and East European manufacturer who have latterly set about supplying the same large commercial markets .
grow the Hard WayThere ’s not a lot of flat farming in Italy , and it ’s used predominantly by the agriculture manufacture . The abundant , craggy land is where the majority of small James Leonard Farmer are active .
Some sodbuster have found minuscule strips of flat landed estate even in the mountainous areas , as the alluvial zones of the many Creek and river provide belittled , useable slices of monotone terra firma .
The general lack of uncommitted flat kingdom is symbolical of the gruelling work demand in being a small farmer in Italy . Most low - scurf farming is done on terraces make by piled - up rocks to make retaining walls . Luckily , farmers have been piling up rocks for a few thousand years in Italy , and modern farmers can take advantage of the many terrace made twelvemonth ago .
Sir Frederick Handley Page 1 |2|3
