INNOVATION BEGINS DOWN TO “EARTH”

HOW THE COMMITMENT FOR NOVELTY & SUSTAINABILITY IS FUELED BY ITALIAN AGRICULTURAL MICRO-MANUFACTURERS. AN INTERVIEW.

Agriculture keeps your mind and body alive. Farming is a 1-to-1 soulful relationship, built on hard work, nurturing, fatigue and reward. It’s planting seeds day by day, to produce and create something better. Both parts, humans and nature, share it same way.

The more time you spend next to earth, the more increases the desire to give back something: positive, beneficial. It’s as saying “THANKS” to nature after many years of love.

So the seed of innovation grows and ripens in your mind, leading to powerful human actions and visible deeds.

Results are considerable here in the rural farm of SAN PIO X since 1708. From the outside, you breath the welcoming atmosphere of a poised place, enjoying the bucolic sight of green grass and blue sky. But the burning liveliness is inside, in the people working here and passionately making foods out of vegetables.

Today we’re having an interview with Angela. She Responsible for Marketing for Su di tono® food project and the youngest resource in this tiny but powerful team.

WHAT DOES IT ORGANIC MEAN TO YOU?

In my imagery, I visualize organic as a label. You know, that green sticker promising naturalness and genuineness of ingredients?
A good label, a great marketing action, to catch the attention on supermarket shelves full of organic-labelled products.
This is sad, because I know the truth behind organic. The strong power of nature, that decides seasons, rainfalls and drought, but still gives you the most fragrant fruits. The beauty of plants growing in fields, the habitat for a multitude of insects, bugs and bees. All this is giving you the whole meaning of “organic”, and I’m lucky to experience it everyday at work.

I would say, making organic food is same as growing your vegetables in old times. You should find the balance between your needs and environment, domesticating and protecting it.

AND IT’S JUST WHAT YOU’RE DOING FARM. YOU’RE GROWING OPEN-FIELD, WITHOUT GREENHOUSES. YOU’RE WATERING PLANTS DROP-BY-DROP TO SAVE UP WATER. YOU’RE STILL PICKING UP VEGETABLES BY HAND, AS OUR GRANDPARENTS DID!

Exactly, this is the right spirit! This way of producing -that we call “Integral Farming“- comes from the research of a sustainable balance between us and the surrounding nature.

I SEE. AND THIS IS THE MAGIC WORD: «SUSTAINABILITY»!
THESE DAYS IT’S OFTEN OVERUSED, TALKING ABOUT GREEN-WASHING AND DEVIANT SPEECH ABOUT SUSTAINABILITY. HOW WOULD YOU DEFINE IT IN A FEW WORDS?

Well, hard but not impossible! May I say, SUSTAINABILITY is compatibility with natural resources.
From this theorical statement , we move to practice by building up circular systems which enhance a smart use of resources and improve technologies to reduce our impact on environment.

Essentially, a sustainable system is a living organism. All parts and events occur to make it move and survive. There’s no space for waste, competition or excess, everything needs to be measured and balanced to reach the same goal successfully.

I’VE CHECKED OUT YOUR SUPERFOODS, UNDER BRAND Su Di Tono® Organic Italian Superfoods. YOU TOLD ME IT’S YOUR LAST CREATION, BEING ON MARKET FOR A FEW MONTHS.
HOW DID YOU COME TO THIS IDEA? WHY YOU DECIDED TO DEHYDRATE ALL YOUR ORGANIC VEGETABLES?

This idea is not mine, I confess! It was Gianni the creative mind. This project brings its name.

We found out that the way we grow and nurture our organic vegetables positively impacts their quality: taste is incredible, and nutrients are highly concentrated in veggies (as we harvest in the period of maximum ripeness). Unfortunately, fresh vegetables are bound to their life-cycle. Even if you keep it in the fridge, you only have few days to eat them out before rotting!

This is one of major causes for food waste, people buy lots of veggies but forget it in the bottom shelf, or cut out many edible parts. We want to save the great taste of our vegetables!

Here the idea hits. If we drain water out of vegetables, they do not rot. And, once dried, we can process it as we want: making powders, pieces, slices, whatever shape we desire!

But the DRYING METHOD has several benefits for food. Firstly, it guarantees long life to products: no water, no place for micro-organisms or bacteria to live. This way, you keep naturally the product intact for years. No need for additives or preservatives… And this is great for your body.

Then, when dehydration occurs at low temperatures, micro-nutrients and antioxidants of fresh vegetables are fully preserved. On the contrary, high temperature can truly affect such important substances, so it’s important to avoid this kind of process and keeping low on the thermometer.

Our food project is still moving its first steps, but its future is so bright! We’re networking with people sincerely involved and engaged in doing their best for environment, aware that our daily effort is important to establish again the balance between earth and humans. Possibly, this could lead to a slow improvement of current global and climate diseases…

I’m willing to believe that we’ll see some deep change in next generations. Sustainability would become a need for growth, and progressively internalized and normalized in every business activity. Regarding food, I hope to see a massive demand for organic, driving producers to switch to more environmental friendly practices. Because change comes from people and their needs.