While doing some research for a video about eating local here in the Lunigiana I’ve discovered a whole different world of food production from that which I’m used to, a world in which people willingly work harder to produce food for themselves because it’s (much) better than industrial food.
The people of my village, by and large work in “normal” jobs, then come home to produce by hand much of the food they eat. I’m not talking about kitchen gardens, although there are plenty of those and they’re huge. I’m talking about producing olive oil, polenta, salami, wine and other products we consider commercial, besides the normal canning of tomato sauce that’s always been done in Italy.
Certainly they don’t do it entirely for economic reasons. I’m certain they do it mostly for taste, and perhaps because they’ve done it so long they wouldn’t think of doing it any other way.
It’s life outside the “free” markets, where products get somewhat cheaper and much shoddier over time. Take the incredible, shrinking airline seat, for example.
(This is where I want to be in the impending world food crisis. These people know how to live—and live well. But that’s just crazy talk, isn’t it?)
In any case, I’ve been hearing cannons blasting away in the woods. It isn’t even hunting season. But I did a little research and filmed some evidence. The cannons are also part of the food chain, the polenta part: see: Cannons and Corn: Making Polenta
It’s the first installment of what I hope will become the Locavore in the Lunigiana Series of videos. Enjoy.