Family Farming Italian Style:
Slow Food, Enduring Traditions

By Claire Murray

Claire Murray was CAFF’s program administrator before she and her husband, Rob, signed on with Willing Workers On Organic Farms and sailed away to Italy. The thoughts and insights she expresses here are taken from a letter she wrote in the spring.

Farming is in every Italian’s blood. It is traditional and highly valued. In the cities, every piece of free land is used to grow food. Even in the little triangle piece of dirt on the inside bend of a road, you will find a few handsome rows of greens and they have the most amazing community gardens.

Italians are interested in keeping farming alive and viable. The Italian government (and even the EU) will make contributions to help maintain farming communities in the best way they can with financial assistance. To encourage folks to continue farming, the government will pay for half of everything to upgrade a farmer’s production. Government Support

For example, we were at a farm in the Abruzzo region that had approximately 100 dairy goats and sheep. Their main product was cheese. But their facilities were too small and old for the production level they were capable of achieving. So, in comes the government, which agrees to pay for half (including labor) of their upgrade. Their upgrade included things such as new fences, new stables, a new tractor and tractor attachments for harvesting grain and hay, and a whole new cheese-making facility.

The government agreed to donate about $90,000 towards this project. And if Maurizio, the farmer, is able to do some of the work himself or save money here and there, he won’t have to return any money if his half ends up costing less than theirs.

The government will also pay for half of the purchase and/or renovation of a farm for people under the age of 40. This program is to encourage younger generations to get into farming. Italy also has the problem of their youth wanting to move to the cities and leave their family farm business. In addition, the government will give extra money to women who purchase their own farms.

Agritourismo

Agritourism is another huge source of income for Italy’s rural communities. Their major form is the agritourismo, which is similar to Bed and Breakfasts in the states. Many people in rural and farming communities renovate their homes to be able to accommodate guests. Most will have from three to five rooms, and some will also run a small restaurant to feed their guests with the local cuisine.

And yes, the government will pay for half of the renovation/building of your home if you develop an agritourismo. We have been to six different farms all around Italy and all of them have been agritourismos. The majority of agritourismos are on farms, which creates an ideal exchange for the city folks that come for a holiday. It tightens the bond that Italians have with their farming community.

Another interesting tidbit that we learned is regarding the relationship of farmers and their farm managers and other workers. Ennio, the farmer of Ca du Chittu, one of the farms we worked on, told us that when a farmer hires a worker to help with the farm, it is more like a marriage. It becomes a lifelong relationship that both parties are obliged to keep.

And if you are a woman, your maternity leave can be up to three years and, yes, your employer has to pay a percentage of your wage and guarantee your job as long as you are away.

The region of Liguria, has organized an on-going class for farmers interested in starting or improving an agritourismo. Many of the classes have been held here at Ca du Chittu, so we were able to participate (as much as we could with the whole language thing). They offer classes on how to go through the legal process of opening an agritourismo, how to set up a Web site, how to advertise, how to determine your prices, and other topics related to the business behind starting your own agritourismo.

In addition, they offer classes on cooking and etiquette for serving food to guests. I was very impressed by this course because in addition to all the topics related to the

Bed and Breakfast part of the business, about half of the classes focus on farming and not just farming, but organic farming. Farming classes are held at various farms in the region, and the owner will usually teach the class about some aspect of their particular farm. The organizers of the class also will bring in experts to talk about various topics. At one class, the president (ED) of AIAB (the largest organic certification group in Italy) taught the group about how and when to prune. And, yes, this class is free for the participants — paid by the region.

Organic Demand Increasing

The word they use to distinguish organic status on food is “biological.” A very important difference between the U.S. and Italy is the perception that people have towards organic products. In Italy, organic food is considered the healthiest option and best for the environment. It represents quality. It’s not considered a political statement to buy or grow organic food. The demand for organic food is higher than the current production level, which means that now they actually have to import certain organic products to meet some of the demand, like organic walnuts from California! But with such support from the government I expect more and more small, family-run organic farms to spring up.

Strong Small Farm Tradition

The traditional lifestyle of farming still exists here. You won’t find many enormous farms run by a farm manager and owned by some large company. The small family farm is how Italy grows their food. Their market, for the most part, is right in their region. (Italy is smaller than California and their regions are similar to our counties.) How is it possible that the majority of a farmer’s marketplace is just off their doorstep, within their own region? The answer is tradition.

Before the inventions of refrigeration, fast transportation and high-speed communication, Italians would only eat the products that were close to where they lived. Today, it is still commonplace to eat the products grown and made in your region. So for example, when we were in Liguria, we only ate cheeses made locally, fruit of the sea (as they call seafood) because they are near the coast, seasonal fruits and vegetables that grow in the area, pasta (of course!), some delicious specialty dishes (pesto for one), and don’t let me forget the wine! They also eat meats like rabbit, wild boar, chicken, small birds, lamb, and some beef.

Slow Food

Italian cuisine is usually fairly simple, but the most important thing to a good Italian cook is to have the highest quality ingredients possible. They enjoy taking time to prepare their dishes from scratch. And they love to sit and eat and drink with friends, taking time to enjoy the meal. Eating is never a rushed or hurried affair, in part because their meals consist of many courses.

Many of the families we stayed with asked us to cook a traditional Californ-ian meal for them. If you had to pick one dish that you considered classic California cooking‚ what would you pick? We chose Mexican. We couldn’t find all the ingredients, like green chilies, sour cream, or cilantro, but we made up some tortillas and all the fixings for burritos. The family got a kick out of putting all the ingredients into a tortilla and eating it all at the same time. And everyone loved our fresh baked chocolate chip cookies!

Many of these traditions are the foundation of the Slow Food movement, which has its origins in Italy. Rob and I plan on integrating many of these Italian traditions into our own family traditions. Rob will start by taking on the role of the Italian Mamma and demand that you always need to eat and drink more.

This is a lot to digest at first, but just consider it food for thought and take it slow. The one wish I have is for our government to take more interest in preserving family farms. I have seen the benefits this country experiences by such support and wish the same for the U.S.