photograph by Rick Gush
Everyone in Italy likes to eat local .
Italy is quite different from the U.S. , and I , quite candidly , think it offer up a undecomposed function manakin for American agriculture . I would n’t want to imitate the idiotically criminal Italian political system of rules or the tendency for Italian mother to do the laundry of their 40 - year - old sons who still know at home . As far as I ’m concerned , the most impressive feature of Italian society is the fact that small farmers are respected here . More than abide by — almost reverence .
Small farmers and their products are extremely prized , and their products sell for fair price that do not fear low - cost foreign importee competition . It ’s grueling for us Americans to understand the astuteness of Italian inflexibility and pickiness concerning the food they eat . When I was courting my Italian married woman , I once brought pertly baked cookies from a local bakery to dinner party at her house . She need me where the biscuit were from and I described the bakery .
“ Oh , we do n’t wipe out thing from them ” she said , “ They use flashy butter . ”
She thereupon dumped the cookies into the scraps . I was shocked , but bit by bit I ’m realizing most Italians will not compromise at all with their solid food .
It is no surprise that Italy is the largest organic - nutrient consumer and producer in Europe . In Italy , people insist on paying more for top - caliber ingredients for their kitchens . It ’s a great property to be a small farmer . Even being a really small James Leonard Farmer is quite alright . Mom - and - daddy operations are legion and thriving here . A huge turn of Italians act regular jobs and also farm part - time and a big number of their products make their way into the market .
Italian television participate sky-high in the general reverence for small Farmer . Every day , the television set stations will broadcast programs that have the operations and product of pocket-sized farmer . The weekends are loaded with agricultural telly content . I counted 11 hours of farming shows last Saturday . Italy is also a great place for someone who enjoys watching television shows about small farmers .
This is not to say that farming is easy in Italy . Far from it . Italy is the land of heroic farming , where even the exorbitant areas are cultivate on thin terrace that are create by the extremely laborious process of building rock walls and backfilling with soil . Not far from our sign is the Cinque Terre , where the seaside cliff terrace are so outrageous that the grape harvest home was once lowered directly into boats anchored in the water .
My dieting has for certain changed since I married my Italian married woman . We have personal relationships with most of the store and marketer from whom we buy our intellectual nourishment . We know the hoi polloi who make lots of the cheese we eat , the guy who uprise a lot of the veggie we eat and the grower of much of the olive oil colour we use .
I am really enjoying my own horticulture activities here . I mark a bunch of points within my Italian family for my ability to contribute quality fruit and vegetables to our diet . All in all , I find that the plants and the bugs and the filth are all quite like to America here in Italy . The biggest difference is the societal respect for small Fannie Merritt Farmer and their product .
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