+9 Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
Living the Land
FANO, Italy—Anna Cascini bends her knees and extends her arm to pick a strawberry from the ground. She remains in this position as she sorts through one plant, then continues onto the next in line. She places the ripened berries into a container and after it’s full, she carries the container to an outdoor sink to clean them. Meanwhile, Alessandro, her husband, swings a coiled collection of hosing around his shoulder, gripping it with his gloved hands. He strolls past the garden his wife was tending to. He begins laying the hosing in the dirt alongside a row of lettuce sprouting from the ground. After the hoses are situated on the earth, he pauses for a moment. He stands with his hands at his sides, and gazes at the fields of fruits and vegetables. He looks in the direction of the farmhouse, then gazes back to the ground. Then he returns to work.
Anna and Alessandro Cascini appear as normal farmers would. They have hardworking demeanors and kind personalities. Anna’s dark hair rests in a bun, underneath a white head-scarf. Alessandro wears a blue Puma baseball cap, and a bright yellow shirt with the word “Americanino,” and the image of a football on it. Their pants are faded and stained with dirt in the knees, indicative of the many hours they spend working each day on their farm, Semi Di Zucca, which means “pumpkin seeds.” Though they are experienced, this way of life is new to the Cascinis, both having left their prior careers for this different lifestyle. For many years, Alessandro worked as an engineer, designing and constructing small windmills, while Anna hand-made clothing.
Although he says he enjoyed his career in engineering, owning land for gardening and farming has always been Alessandro’s desire. He says farming is his passion, and this lifestyle is more sustainable and better for his family’s well-being. Alessandro says that his family’s health, as well as his own, are one of the many reasons they began farming.
“Everything I am able to do here is beautiful,” says Alessandro.
The Cascins live in Pesaro, Italy, but acquired their land here in nearby town Fano in 2013. Alessandro says a friend of his was renting the land and had to move. When he moved, Alessandro said he took over and began gardening, as the fields were already prepared for it. They were unable, however, to acquire the farmhouse on the property. Though they were still pleased with their purchase of the farm land, the Cascinis dream is to someday live in the house at Semi Di Zucca.
“Everything I am able to do here, is beautiful,” says Alessandro. He finds happiness in everything from putting small seeds into the earth, to watching them grow into organic produce. So, three years after acquiring their land, both he and his wife decided to quit their careers and enter a slower paced yet fulfilling lifestyle at the Semi Di Zucca farm.
A slower paced, but difficult day of work, is typical for the Cascinis. Each morning they arrive at the farm from Pesaro around eight o’clock in an attempt to beat the heat. Anna begins picking the fruits and vegetables that are ripe, while Alessandro handles the physical labor and maintenance of the farm and gardens. After collecting the ripened produce, Anna gives them a rinse at the outdoor sink. Then, she transports them in a wooden cart to the farmhouse, which is about a two-minute walk. When she reaches the house, she parks the cart outside of the door of the kitchen. She begins bringing each fruit and vegetable inside to further clean and sort them. After she sorts them, she creates mixes for their clients.
The Cascinis say that their clients don’t request specific items from them every week. Instead, they collect what they have that is ready to be consumed and create a basket. Alessandro says this method makes their farming more efficient, and environmentally sustainable. He explains that by creating mixes using the specific fruits and vegetables they have on hand they can avoid being wasteful or overselling one particular item. This also sustains healthy lands for growing and producing, by maintaining a balance between what is being grown and cultivated, and what is in excess or scarce.
“We live the land; we don’t cultivate it,” he says. Alessandro explains the importance of living the land, meaning, not just taking from the earth and stripping it of its natural elements but giving back to it as well. He says that this philosophy is what drives him to maintain environmentally sustainable methods of farming. He explains that as farmers, it’s important to farm in a way that gives value back into the earth. To Alessandro, keeping their produce organic and harvesting and selling their produce based on their supply, is one way he can maintain and give value back to his lands.
Their philosophies of farming are common among clients and fellow vendors at the Oltremercato farmers’ market
This is one of many methods that distinguish the Cascinis from other farmers. Alessandro says their philosophies of farming, however, are common among their clients and fellow vendors at the Oltremercato farmers’ market where they sell their produce each week. The Oltremercato, translating to “other market,” is a farmers’ market where locals of the Pesaro, Italy and surrounding areas bring their organic, home-grown produce to sell. Alessandro says he found this market because he is involved in an environmentalist group called GAS or “Gruppo d’Acquisto Solidale,” or GAS. This translates to “solidarity buying group,” and is an informally organized group which takes a critical approach to consumption. Members of GAS, like Alessandro, aim to apply principles of equity, solidarity and sustainability to their purchases of food. He says that this concept can be incorporated into not just farming, but everything you do. He explains that their philosophies transfer from their daily work, to the relationships they make with other people, animals, and even the vegetables and fruit they harvest.
Alessandro says there is a commonality among the vendors and clients of the Oltremercato distinguishing it from other farmers’ markets. Flavio Angelini, a client of the Cascinis and customer of the Oltremercato, says that he values this market over others because of the people and their environmentally sustainable philosophies. He says the reason he and Alessandro met was their participation in GAS, and now he is a regular client and friend.
Angelini says that now he exclusively purchases from the Oltremercato. He explains that before he came to the Oltremercato, he would shop at other markets. However, he would find that even though the produce was local, and vendors claimed it was free of chemicals, it was not completely organic. To Angelini, trusting that the produce he buys is organic is important, as he purchases this food to feed himself and his family. Angelini says that at the Oltremercato it’s all about the relationship and friendship. He says that not only has he formed relationships with the vendors and clients at the Oltremercato, but he has formed a community with them. He explains that he and other clients find a lot of value in the locality of the produce. He says he also gets a lot of satisfaction from purchasing high quality produce from his friends, for his family.
Customer Angelini says vendors like the Cascinisare not swayed by greed, because they aren’t farming for the money.
The community that has formed at this quaint market is unlike that of others. Every Thursday, a group of seven to eight individuals line up on the side of a road in a shady area beneath a stretch of trees in Pesaro. They set up their stands, typically wooden tables that they construct upon arrival. Table cloths are spread and produce is carried, basket by basket, from the back of the vendors’ cars to the displays. Although farmers’ markets are typical of Italian culture, they are often organized at a much larger scale and more business focused. The market in Urbino, for example, which returns every Saturday, stretches longer than a football field and features 20-foot long trucks with canopies and huge displays of items. At this market, though the vendors are familiar with each other, there is not the same sense of community. It’s less personal. While purchasing items, it feels almost rushed. At the Oltremercato, there may not be trucks with grand canopies and large displays, but there is a conversation.
Angelini mentions this concept of conversation and says there is an overpowering philosophy at the Oltremercato which he doesn’t find at other markets. He says vendors of the market, like the Cascinis, have devoted themselves to this lifestyle, to practicing environmentally sustainable and entirely organic methods. They are not swayed by greed, because they aren’t farming for the money. Alessandro says they do this because they enjoy it, and it has become an important part of their lives. He explains that taking care of the earth is important to him as he practices farming, because the earth takes care of him. To the Cascinis, farming is not simply a means of work and business. Alessandro says that although they must sell their produce to live, he and his wife find that the individuals they are selling to and the relationships they form are much more valuable.
Alessandro says his philosophy of farming translates into his daily life. He says that he applies these concepts to everything he does. His philosophies have remained the same, and further progressed throughout the years he has spent farming. He and his wife will return to the farm each morning, ready to contribute to the beautiful lands they own. However, he still has one dream: to move into the farmhouse at Semi Di Zucca permanently.
For now, he says it is not possible. But maybe one day.
Translation of interviews and other language assistance by University of Urbino students Tonia Perreca, Luca Cocozza, and Roberto Giambona.
Video by Gianna Di Gregorio & Carley Welch
