If a country is said to have a deep love for food, then Italy. Many organic farmers here are aware of their responsibilities. You rely on old varieties and Tradition, but not quick money.
On Cristiano del Toro property crops grow the way you want. And you should also. Olive and Apple trees are here, in between the tomato plants and bean vines, the Grass on the patch of fertile earth has also mowed a while no one more. The Italian shrugs his shoulders. Excuse? Not at all.
“The shows that I was already here for a while,” he says, and wanders down the hill, at the foot of which his court is located. The facility is located in Castiglione Messer Raimondo, a small village in the shadow of the highest peak of the Apennines, the Gran Sasso.
In Go, he shows up on a different Farm, which nestles on the other side of the valley to the mountain. “This is old-fashioned agriculture, just like my. There are some olive trees on the left and the right, but not in a row like on the field next to it,” says del Toro.
Everything he grows on his four acres of Land, growing organically and using traditional methods. Therefore, the trees and shrubs are here also criss-cross and not in straight lines, as you know it from postcards from Italy and France.
Cristiano del Toro to Italy to promote the rich culinary heritage by he grows old varieties of fruit and vegetables
This type of agriculture wants to revive del Toro, is actually a landscape architect. This is also the objective of the Association over which he presides. Civilta Contadina (it means as much as: “company of farmers”) is the name of the organization. It has 150 members. It was founded in 1996 with the stated goal of the biological diversity in agriculture, and ensuring that municipalities have more control over the way on your floor food is produced, traded and consumed.
Italy has not lost its agricultural heritage
There is hardly a nation that is so closely associated with a love for food, like the Italians. Del Toro is no exception. The modern, machine-driven agriculture, says he, have made the agricultural heritage of the country poorer, not only on the field, but of course also on the plate. So traditional fruits and vegetables, which are not suitable for mass cultivation, to a large extent from the menu disappeared.
“Actually, beans are climbing plants that you can harvest with a machine,” he explains. “Modern bean plants bushes are therefore all rather close to the ground.”
The traditional farming in Italy and elsewhere in Europe, could be justified on the grounds of the Second world war, says Valerio Tanzarella. The former lawyer is now one of the dedicated organic farmers from the Civilta Contadina. His farm is located in Puglia, in the South, where Italian boots and has his hook. He runs it together with his childhood friend Angelo Giordano.
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To bring to Italy and Europe after the war, back on track, took in the great style, good and cheap food. So the European economic community (now the European Union), promoted in the 1950s, a rapid industrialisation of agriculture. And that led to the increased use of fertilizers, monocultures and rather monotonous landscapes.
“After the war, the European Union has revolutionized the agricultural sector,” says Tanzarella. “Part of the concept was to put the agricultural industry on chemicals.”
Prior to that, Civilta Contadina and his colleagues warn. The dependence on chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides harmful to the environment and the fertility of the soil, they say. The number of insects is declining, and lakes and rivers were heavily polluted.
Modern agriculture, says del Toro, was so similar, “such as people in intensive care”. They are dependent on AIDS. The modern plants might not often add nitrogen as well as older cultures and frequently more dependent on fertilizer.
“We want to show that it is possible, foods in a way not to grow, which drains the land,” he says.
Organic Growth
And it seems like the ideas from the group of other farmers and also the consumers would be heard. Agriculture with a total turnover of 31.5 billion euros is still the largest economic sector in Italy. The organic share is growing rapidly. Between 2010 and 2016, the number of organic farmers increased by 53 percent.
However, the 64,000 bioland are the hosts so far, for just 4.5 percent of total sales in the agriculture.
Del Toro is not one of them, he produces only for himself and his family. “Everything I grow, eat, or I would not exchange against the products that I produce meat for example. I have nothing to earn, but I save a lot of money,” he says.
Traditional fruit and vegetables that cannot be harvested mechanically, largely disappeared from our diet, says del Toro
The Italian farming Association Confagricoltura is on the side of Civilta Contadina. Here, too, the preservation of the agricultural heritage of the country is important.
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“We consider the Revive forgotten crops or the rearing of traditional pig types as an interesting Innovation,” says Vincenzo Lenucci, economic Director of Confagricoltura in the DW. “It offers farmers an economic opportunity, creating diversity and meets the needs of the customer.”
The world could not feed so, but, in a hurry Lenucci to say.
“If we were to produce the old-fashioned way of food, we would not have the quantity that we have now, not to the current prices. In our opinion, these two methods should exist side by side”, so Lenucci.
Of the farmers practicing organic cultivation, is not known exactly how many to put on old seed and crop varieties. That is what Civilta Contadina want to encourage you but. Even if it is not expressly stated on the website of the organization that wants to be understood of the club as a sort of Protest against big companies like Monsanto, the uniform seeds, “the scientists created” will produce, as it is expressed in Tanzarella.
Instead of planting his trees in neat rows, and used del Toro’s traditional methods of cultivation and allows you to criss-cross grow
“Monsanto is a Monster”
To show to seed producers such as Monsanto with the pointed Finger is too easy, replies Lenucci. “You invest a lot of money in the improvement of grain and seed.”
“Monsanto is a Monster”, he says and points to the use of a gene from a certain bacterium, through the Corn, are resistant to parasites. Organic farmers would spray their Crops with the same bacteria to protect you, he says. “What’s the difference?”
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As everywhere, the income and revenue in Italy in the foreground for many farmers, if they opt for the cultivation of certain seeds. The greater the yield and the lower the price the better. But the farmers, making them more prone to unpredictable weather extremes.
“These olive trees here date back to the 1990s,” says del Toro, and suggests a handful of trees on the edge of his estate. Some belong to a local olive variety is called Dritta, which is grown for centuries in the Region of Abruzzo, East of Rome. The other two are Tuscan and were brought in the 1970s here. They produce “larger and more olives,” says del Toro. Also can be harvested earlier.
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Greater diversity means more food security
“However, we have had this year a wet summer and a late Frost. The local olive trees have borne anyway, the olives, the Tuscan, however, is not”, says the hobby farmer. “Over the centuries has adapted to the Dritta to the local situation – the biodiversity.”
Further evidence of this is on the green Apennine slopes at the court of Civilta Contadinas, President of the del Toro: He shows some of his rare Apple varieties. One of them looks like a cow head, another has red flesh.
His group was something of a nostalgic seed Bank. “Biodiversity cannot be stored in the refrigerator. I believe that seeds need to be preserved on the field,” he says, and takes one of the Apples and bites. It is crisp yellow copy, which looks like a lemon. It is called Limoncella. And without del Torro and his comrades-in-arms, he would probably be even harder to find.
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