Food Inc - Official Trailer [HD]

I've been thinking a lot about the experiences I have had with food production in this country (Italy). I have seen farm, after farm, after farm and one thing strikes me. The Italians do not produce their food like we do in America. They put so much of themselves into their work, they care for their animals, they tend to their crops for hours each day, they work the land with their own hands and they do so with pride and satisfaction. To them, the quality of the food they produce is a direct reflection on them as a person, there is accountability and there is pride. There is also an extreme aversion to anything that is not local. There are products in Italy that barely get shipped out of the region of production into other regions, let alone into any other countries. Some Italians wont eat anything that has been frozen. You can even find on many restaurant menus a little symbol that indicates to a customer when an ingredient has been previously frozen. This is unheard of in the United States. We aren't even made aware when we are eating a cloned animal or a genetically modified vegetable ( concepts that are also alien to the Italians).

Food is not a science here, it is a craft and an art. This is the way it should be!!

I feel so strongly about this, and my passion for farm-to-table and sustainable food is growing the more I learn about the subject. I don't pretend to know everything about how our country got to this point in food production, I also don't pretend to have any realistic ideas on how I can change the way things are; however, I plan on using my role as a chef to tell this story. I want people to understand what I have been learning here: that food is a labor of love and that animals are the best when they are happy and clean and healthy and allowed to roam free and live as they were evolved to live. A farm should be self-sustaining and have a variety of crops that change with the seasons. Food, and healthy food should be one and the same.

If this country can produce its own food this way, AND be considered a country to have some of the BEST food in the world, then why can't we do it in our country? Our country, that has an abundance of land for farming and grazing animals, has lost its farming tradition. We have lost our foods soul, and until you can bring that back I am certain that we are all doomed. Check the obesity levels, check the rates of childhood diabetes. These aren't accidents, this is evolution telling us that we've gone horribly wrong.

http://www.certifiedorganic.bc.ca/rcbtoa/services/corporate-acquisitions.html

Down On The Farm

Tuesday I finally went to see the farm.

It was a beautiful sunny day and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. I went with Arcangelo during our break in between lunch and dinner.
Their family's farm is one of the happiest farms I have ever seen. All the animals are free range, when we rolled up we were greeted by a herd of sheep and goats all grazing lazily. I asked Arca if he was ever worried that they would run off and he laughed.
"of course not!" he said "we have the dogs and the bells."
All the sheep and goats had big bells around their necks, creating with their movements a messy chorus of chimes.The farm actually has a lot of dogs considering that there aren't that many animals to be looked after. One of the dogs had just had puppies as well, they were the cutest little things and I was tempted to take one.


There was also one baby goat that fancied herself a dog. She was born a month ago and Arcangelo told me that her mother abandoned her so he had been feeding her by bottle every day. Because of that, she didn't graze or spend much time with the other goats, she preferred to follow the humans around on their chores and stay very much under foot. The day I went Arca let me feed her so for the rest of the time we were there the baby goat acted like my shaddow, following me around and rubbing her little horns against my leg insisting upon attention.

I spent most of the time playing with the dogs and the goat while Arcangelo and his grandfather (also Arcangelo) tended to the pigs. The pigs are the main focus of the farm. The goats and the sheep are never eaten, the pigs however are slaughtered every winter so that the restaurant can produce its own salumi and cured pork products. It was interesting, I found out that the Italian government gives subsidies to farms that have a certain number of animals, so when Peppino wanted to start a farm he bought the sheep and the goats simply to reach that quota. He now tends to them as a hobby, a labor of love, so that he may keep his beloved pigs.

The farm was great. I really enjoyed seeing how a small family could run a successful restaurant as well as keeping a farm running. Both jobs require a tremendous amount of work, commitment and time. I suppose when you are so passionate about it, the work is easy to do.

Perfect Bliss

Monday was my day off

I went for a walk into town and discovered that it's even more dead on Mondays than it is on Sundays!

Thankfully there were a few places still open, including a cute little local food shop. I talked to the man behind the counter a little and told him I wanted to buy a selection of meats and cheeses that he would consider to be the most traditional from Abruzzo. I ended up with two different types of pecorino cheese (a sheepsmilk cheese that the locals go crazy for around here) and two different types of pork sausage, along with a jar of antipasto agrodolce. I then took my bounty back to the hotel where I raided the kitchen for some bread, picked up an open bottle of wine I had in my room and grabbed a book, my journal, and a blanket. The perfect picnic was what I had in mind, and I knew just the place for it. About ten minutes by foot from Villa Maiella there is an olive grove that overlooks a farms and rolling hills as far as the eye can see. I found a good spot underneath an olive tree, spread out my blanket, and laid my feast out before me. I spent the afternoon lazily reading the first chapters of Elizabeth Gilbert's new book Committed, sipping wine and enjoying the warm sun on my face.
The food was incredible!
The two pecorino's I decided on could not have been more different and yet both were divine. One was younger, softer, creamy with a slightly sweet and grassy taste. The other, more aged, stronger in taste, salty, tangy and crumbly. The two sausages as well displayed the vast differences between two similar products. The main difference was that while the first had a synthetic casing and implemented the use of preservatives, the second was completely natural, made down the road (literally) and had a natural casing. The first was harder, much better for slicing than the other which melted in your hands. The first was more meaty, with a higher percentage of meat to fat that made it a little chewier, but not in a bad way. The first was mild in flavor, very easygoing on the palate, it would definitely be a crowd-pleaser. The all natural sausage was fatty, and delicious. I could still smell the pigs when I ate it, and the scent lingered from the oil on my hands for hours. A smell I will never forget after this trip. I have seen so many pig farms and eaten so much pork product since being in Italy I could pick out pig smell from any other scent in the world. Perhaps not an important skill, but a skill nonetheless.


There is something magical that happens when you eat outdoors, something pure. I considered this experience research for the final paper I must write on Abruzzo and its unique cuisine. Nothing could have been more perfect than eating locally produced cheese and organic meat with my toes in the grass from which it was all born. I felt completely alone sitting in that orchard on top of the world, and yet, I was happier than I had been in a long time.
It was truly my idea of a perfect day.

Sleepless in Abruzzo

I can't sleep. I hear the bells toll from the church next door marking down the hours. Despite my busy schedule and daily physical exhaustion, I haven't been sleeping well since I arrived at Villa Maiella.

I have a lot on my mind I suppose. I keep thinking about my future and what I will do after graduation. I think about what I will write for my final paper and what I will cook for my practical final exam. I dwell on the past, as most people do in the lonely hours before dawn. I listen to the birds outside and hear the dogs barking and wonder if anyone else is listening as well. It is definitely lonely here, not that I'm complaining. I feel so blessed to be here, I'm living my dream and couldn't be doing it in a better place. However, this is a small town and I am an outsider. Not only that but my entire world here is located in one building. Work, home, they are only two floors apart. I go for runs to clear my head and escape the feelings of entrapment. The landscape here is so beautiful that I often find myself pausing during a run just to stare at the mountains.

It's nearing four in the morning and I am no closer to sleep than I was at midnight. I have big plans for tomorrow, exploring the town on my day off, perhaps even venturing to Pescara to walk on the beach. We'll see what actually happens when I wake up dog tired and lazy. Here's hoping...

Chicks and Bones

Today was a great way at work. The weather was pretty dismal, it was as if Spring crept back into its cave and gave us winter again. The sky was dark gray and the wind and rain was whipping past the restaurant windows. If it wasn't for the buds on the trees you would never know it was spring.

One of the great things about spring at a farm to table restaurant is that all the animals have their babies. Chef has been incubating chicks in his apartment and seven hatched in the past two days. It was incredible to see. They are so cute; I finally understand the significance of marshmellow peeps during Easter time!

Today was also fantastic because I de-boned a whole lamb by myself for the first time. It was pretty great getting that skill under my belt. I want to be really good at it by the time I leave. Arcangelo is the one who has been teaching me butchering and he is extremely patient. Everyone at Villa Maiella is so helpful I have no doubt that I will be ready for my finals in May. I just have to keep the eye on the prize.

Una Sera Perfetta

Another day off and I spent it entirely in bed. I was feeling lazy today after quite the night out last night. Unlike most of my Sundays spent in this country I had a full and exciting day. It started with work, of course. Sunday is our most busy day and we were all sweating by the end of service. We got out around five and I decided to make the most of my night. I showered, got all done up and took myself out on the town to see what Guardiagrele really is. It turns out that the stroll by sunset is a very popular concept here because the streets were packed with people. Groups of old men, hoards of teenagers, and couples strolling hand-in-hand. After walking down the main street I stopped and sat at a park bench in the only park in town. It was great for people watching and I even got a little writing done. As the sun set I searched for a place for a single gal to get a glass of wine and a bite to eat. I even brought a book with me in anticipation of a dinner alone. What I got was an entirely different story.

I found what must be the hottest spot in Guardiagrele. It had a crowd of people milling around outside and lively music coming from within. With a bar stocked with crostini and prosciutto I decided to stop in and see what it was all about. After one glass of white wine I met the town crazy. An old white-haired man with a barely audible voice was on me like white on rice. I couldn't understand a word he whispered but his hand gestures suggested that he wanted to take me to his place. Needless to say I was in need of a white knight at that moment, and I found one. Another gentleman at the bar kindly told him to bugger off, which he did thank god! This man turned into a one-man welcome wagon and introduced me to all his friends. He was a nice guy, nearly forty and uncharacteristically polite for an Italian man. He didn't hit on me, he asked me a ton of questions about being a chef and about my life in general, and not once did I feel uncomfortable. The only down side was that he was a little too old and bald for my taste, but hey, no one's perfect. After toasting with champagne for his buddy's birthday he and a smaller group of people, two couples and another single guy were heading off to dinner and asked me to join.

Somehow in just a few short hours I went from being the obvious stranger in a town that knows everybody, to a new friend and dinner guest. The dinner was delicious and I even went and talked to the chef for a little while. All the other guests were intrigued about why I am here, and they asked me if I liked each dish we had. It seemed like I was the topic of choice at dinner, I felt extremely welcomed. At the end of the meal my escort paid for my meal and we all went to a bar down the street. It was around the second beer there that I decided it was time to head home and call it a night.

This may sound crazy but I can't even remember the guys name. He told me once and after a while I felt rude to ask again. This is a small town, I'm sure I will run into him again at some point in the next two months.

Guardiagrele

I took a run through town today. The weather is finally getting nice enough to permit outside activities like hikes, runs, and some exploration of my surroundings. This town is a humbly beautiful story-book town complete with cobblestone streets, old buildings and charming caffes. Although it could be mistaken for any other European town what makes it unique for me are the mountains. you can see them from almost every part of town, towering over it like silent white-haired giants. I can't wait for my day off on Monday to get to explore a bit more when the shops and restaurants are all open.