With Their Hands in the Earth
Over the course of a year, I have periodically visited a vegetable farm set up by a young couple at the foot of the Apennines south of Parma. Their farm shop is steadily gaining popularity among locals while an old, yet not habitable house, is being renovated and envisioned as a future hub for community gatherings and activities.
Elena and Luca have made a life choice that it would be simplistic to idealise. Their days are defined by hard work and ambitious goals. Operating with limited resources, they dedicate themselves to meticulous research, seeking to innovate through the revival of ancient crop varieties and traditional farming methods – in the drive for a more sustainable agriculture, a deeper relationship with those who eat what they grow, and fostering the growth of a vibrant community.
Elena and Luca are among a growing number of people who are willing to give up potentially more lucrative careers in order to embrace a different way of life, one that can help repair the damage caused to our planet by profit-driven human activities.
Watching them at work, in what struck me as a symbiotic relationship with the surrounding countryside and the land, was an enlightening experience that gave me much to reflect on and brought back emotions and images of a world I have never experienced first-hand, but of which I retain a deeply ingrained memory – a memory that has been passed down from generation to generation and has helped to shape my identity.
