As a 65-year-old man, sadly, I am seeing the generations that came before me disappearing, not only due to age but also – and above all right now – because of this damned virus.
What can I do and what can we do for the future? Thinking about the earth, everyone will have to respect it more, just as our grandparents did. It was their livelihood, and we too must understand that the earth gives us our livelihood; that way, we will respect it more.
If this happens, it will not be easy. I certainly hope it does! Producing to make progress in the world of modern agriculture where large multinationals create and destroy as they please is very difficult, but if the whole world recognised how important the noble work of farmers is, perhaps it could be achievable.
By this point, we have seen that certain regulations on some products such as extra-virgin olive oil will never be changed; this would cause too much damage to multinationals. So the artisans of the earth remain alone, with little help, seeking to enhance the raw ingredients that they produce by not using pesticides, but also and above all trying to keep by-products within their own company, recycling them to create green energy where possible.
After what has happened, I think that a lot of things will change in the short term: people will move around less than before, leading to a partial loss of the tourism that once existed and that was the source of direct on-site sales. As a result, sales systems will also change: products must be sold in the shops of today, i.e. online stores.
Buyers will no longer hear the passionate description of a product given by the manufacturer. Instead, they will see beautiful photos and a nice story written on a website, but it’s not the same.
If we completely lose this artisan identity, we will also lose what makes us different from country to country, from region to region, from state to state. The talk will no longer be of globalisation, but rather of ‘linearisation’, where everyone will have to respect the rules that humankind is partly responsible for generating due to our lack of respect for the earth.
I am optimistic; I hope this will happen as late as possible.
Giorgio Mori