Today is our last day in Florence. It has been an excellent time and I’m very grateful to my host Marco Bindi and his staff. We have managed to mix a few farm visits and interviews, a presentation to people at the University and some local farm leaders, a visit to a research lab in Florence, and taking time to see some of Florence. It has been a great privilege to do the latter with Alice, whose class in New Zealand has just this week begun a study of the Renaissance. Here we are at the heart of the Renaissance, inspired by the work of Leondardo da Vinci, Michaelangelo and others. This experience has reinforced in me a need for a modern Renaissance … a reunification of the arts and sciences as we see in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, and a rethinking of how we work and interact with our natural world.
Alice, visiting the village of Vinci where Leonardo da Vinci was born. We need a modern Renaissance ... a reunification of the arts and sciences as we see in the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci, and a rethinking of how we work and interact with our natural world
When Giacomo and I returned to Poggio di Camporbiano Piero and his wife Patricia took us on a tour around some of their facilities and the farm. There was a lot to see in a short time. We learned about their on-farm research to develop their own vegetable rennet from a plant that is related to the globe artichoke; their honey production; their greenhouse for propagating vegetable seedlings for field production; their wheat production including a tractor that has the wheels changed depending on ground conditions to reduce compaction effects, machinery for field drying the wheat as it is harvested, the pasta production; animal care; water management; compost making; forest management.
A relative of the globe artichoke provides a natural source of vegetable rennet. Patricia spent about a decade developing a technique for extracting rennet from this plant that didn’t taint the cheeseDairy cows are housed for part of the day, where they are fed lucerne hayDairy cows out in the field, forming part of a very diverse and resilient farming systemWheat and olives, just part of the diversity of Poggio di Camporbiano, a farm that is ecologically and economically very resilientDams for harvesting rainfall are vital for Poggio di Camporbiano, with low annual rainfall and no natural water
We then joined the whole of their small farm community for a delicious shared lunch. It was only at this time that I fully learnt about the full extent of the cooperative nature of this farm. Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to an approach to farming and working with nature that is both very relevant now and increasingly relevant for the future.
A delicious shared lunch at Poggio di Camporbiano. Here is a small community of people who are deeply committed to a very holistic approach to farming and working with nature, drawing on traditional knowledge and wisdom but working in a very smart and technologically advanced manner
Today we began our week of activities hosted by the Department of Agronomy and Land Management at the University of Florence. Thanks to my colleague, Professor Marco Bindi, and his staff (Sandra and Giacomo) for organising this week for us.
Our first stop was the University research farm, a 300ha property in the famous Chianti region of Tuscany. It’s a very beautiful place. The manager of the farm talked about some of their research activities, for example work they are doing on erosion control and water conservation through land contouring, and showed us around their facilities. I asked him about changes in climate that they are experiencing. His response was that nothing is reliable with the weather any more. Annual rainfall here is around 400mm. Historically most of this came in the winter months. Now the distribution is unpredictable. Temperatures are increasing, and rapid temperature changes are being experienced at times. Crops are being affected. For example when they pruned the grapes in the dormant winter period last winter they found that there was still sap flowing at a time when there would normally be no such activity in the plant. It is becoming very hard to manage farm activities with such changes.
A typical scene from Chianti, TuscanyGavin with Giacomo and the manager of the University research farm who talked about the challenges of more chaotic weather that they are already experiencing
After lunch in the nearby village we drove to a farm called Poggio di Camporbiano where we met Piero Alberti, a biodynamic farmer. Piero has been farming this 200ha property biodynamically since 1986.
With Piero Alberti, one of the smartest farmers I've met. “We can no longer rely on the proverbs of the past”
The farm is organised as a cooperative community with about 14 people living and working there. Piero was the first one to be on the farm and is responsible for most of the farming activities. He is a very very smart farmer, one of the smartest I have met in all of our travels and even compared to some very good New Zealand farmers that I have worked with. The focus is to farm this property as a living organism, with a focus on sound ecology, a strong social environment and a very robust farm economy. To achieve this there are a diversity of production activities, processing of farm products for sale, biodynamic production techniques, recycling of farm waste back into the farm, extremely smart management of a very limited water situation, and implementation of a self-sufficient energy programme. The importance and value of this ecologically balanced approach is reflected in the ability of the farm to sustain economic viability through a severe drought period several years ago. They managed the farm through this drought without needing the external economic support that other farmers in the area needed. In relation to climate change Piero made a very profound statement, that farmers in Italy can no longer rely on the proverbs of the past. Everything has changed and is changing very rapidly. The modern farmer, in his view, needs to both be smart in using available technology and develop a greater sensibility to nature. Their success is reflected in the fact that neighbouring farmers are beginning to follow some of their practices. Our time with Piero was quite limited, but I was so impressed by this story that I arranged a return visit for the following Sunday (3 June).
Yesterday (Saturday) we drove to Alfredo and Christine’s farm, first in mid afternoon to film and photograph scenes on and from the farm and later in the evening to film an interview with Alfredo.
Alfredo and Christine came to this valley in the mid 1970s, students from University in Rome coming to live an ideal in the countryside. They discovered this beautiful place in Umbria, 100ha of abandoned land in the hills. The hills were mostly abandoned in the 1960s, with people either moving to the cities or down into the valley to work on tobacco farms which predominate here. They chose an organic approach, consistent with traditional agriculture in this environment, but with contemporary ideas and technology. The forested hills here provide a protective cover that is very important in an environment that becomes very dry in the summer months. But there are problems. Aside from the good work of people like Alfredo and Christine, the hills and forest are no longer managed in a way that supports sustainability of the whole environment. Mostly now the old villas in the hills have been bought by foreigners or converted to tourist accommodation. The forest is neglected and use of water for swimming pools is increasing the pressure on water resources. This is on top of the heavy use for water for tobacco growing in the valley. People are having to drill deeper to get water. The winter snows of 30 years ago are no longer happening, an important source of groundwater recharge. Alfredo talks to the old people and they say that the agriculture in the valley has been destroyed. Local people hear through the news about climate change, they are experiencing local climatic changes, they wonder if there is a connection. They lack relevant information to help make the connections.
The potential here is in the forest, the environment, the mix of people … the likes of Katharina with her networking, Alfredo and Christine with their organic farming, the long-standing farmers and others in the community being supported and empowered to work together for the future. Alfredo’s view is that there is a need to refocus back to producing local food for local people. They are leading through their example.
“This valley has the possibility to make very good food, agricultural food, for local people.”
A traditional storage dam, on Alfredo and Christine's farm. The majority of these traditional dams have been abandoned and replaced by swimming poolsAlfredo cutting hay. In the past the grass would have been three times this height at this time of year. Hotter weather and less moisture are possible causes for the lower production in Alfredo's viewA view of the farm homestead, with olive grove. Alfredo and Christine have put their ideals into practice and created a balanced farm forestry environment
Being in this beautiful valley in Umbria, visiting Assisi, has been very uplifting and a further affirmation of what motivated me towards undertaking this journey with my family. We continue to meet people doing good things … now stretching from Thailand, Viet Nam, Nepal, Egypt, to Italy. It is my goal to work to strengthen the connections that have been made, to create the possibility of bringing some of these grassroots people from different places together. I can do this through a documentary film if I ultimately find the extra support needed to realise this. But I also now carry a goal to physically bring grassroots people from different places together … to facilitate an interaction that I think could be very powerful and really help guide a true action focused approach to addressing the real issues of our time in a realistic manner.
For the last week we have been enjoying the beauty of Umbria. At the same time my hope of connecting with some people in the valley we are staying in was realized.
There are fields with scattered poppies everywhere here, very beautiful
The first few days here we were finding our feet, me still getting used to driving on the right side of the road, finding local supermarkets and so on. In between I managed to make some good connections. With the help of a young Italian couple staying in the apartment next to ours I managed to talk to Guiseppe, the co-owner of La Casella Marilena where we are staying, about my interests. He then connected me with a local woman, Katharina. Through Katharina we met Alfredo and Christine, a couple who own a 100 ha organic farm and a restaurant in the hills here. Last night we had dinner at their lovely restaurant and talked about our journey and my work. They were very interested. It emerged that they are part of a group of people who moved to this valley in the 1970s and have been working over a long period of time on environmental issues. Their networking activities are on-going. The challenge they have had is being seen as outsiders by the long-standing local farmers and community. However, over time, they have worked to make connections and try and influence positive changes with the community. I see a real opportunity to help facilitate stronger connections and interactions. Now is the time for this to happen, as we’ve seen and heard in every place we’ve visited so far on this journey.
Today we went to Assisi. This was a very special day. St Francis of Assisi was a very special person at a time of much conflict, with a universal message that is very relevant now. It is worth repeating part of the text from the brochure we collected from the Basilica of St Francis in Assisi…
“Franciscan existence is an immense space where God, man and the world of nature harmoniously find their place. In Assisi even the sun, moon, stars, fire, water and wind feel at home because Francis dared to call them ‘brothers’ and ‘sisters’.”
Reading this reminded me of a movie I saw about 32 years ago, about the life of St Francis “Brother Sun, Sister Moon”. This movie made a very big impression on a then 16 year old. What moved me most in the Basilica was the Giotti painting of “The Sermon to the Birds”. We walked from the Basilica to the highest point in Assisi for a beautiful view over the village and surrounding countryside. As we left Assisi I was captured by images of field and sky, with Assisi and the Basilica in between. And then a sign to the Sanctuary of Rivotorto caught my eye. This is named the ‘hovel of St Francis’ where the first Franciscan community was briefly housed … the humble, simple dwelling now overwhelmed by the church of Rivotorto.
The village of Assisi, between earth and sky
On our return to the commune of Lisciano Niccone we drove into a thunderstorm and then beautiful scenes of sun radiating through clouds over the nearby village of Mercatale.
A stunning scene from our temporary home at Marilena la Casella, looking towards Mercatale
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