Especially in Northern Italy, WWOOFing is not to be missed

Post courtesy of Annie Steeves, Health Management & Policy and EcoGastronomy Dual Major.

Before meeting up with my EcoG peers, I WWOOFed in Northern Italy for about 16 days at the end of summer. My cousin joined me on this adventure. What an experience we had! The farm was called “Oasi di biodiversita di Galbusara Bianca”, it’s a 20 hectare farm, 10 of which are cultivated, and 10 are woodland. It is situated in a beautiful Park, Parco di Montvecchia, in the Valley del Curone. So we were surrounded by beautiful hills and farms. It’s about one hour north of Milan. The farm prides themselves on their diversity of fruit, they have over 30 varieties of figs, which we picked almost every morning. I had never tried a fresh fig before… what a place to change that! The farm also had a relatively new restaurant, which they tried, to source completely from their land. While we were there, they hosted three weddings (in three straight days!!). It was a lot of work, but was cool to witness the celebrations and help prepare the foods.

WWOOFing  (World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms) is an amazing experience that everyone should take advantage of. It’s focused on learning methods of organic farming. First-hand experience is invaluable, and the best part is that it is free! The farmers need the help, there’s never nothing to do!  In exchange for help, farmers provide food and accommodation. There are WWOOF farms all around the world, and stays range from a few days to years!  Check out WWOOF’s website for more info: http://www.wwoof.org/

The many fig and apple trees on the property.

This was hung on every tree, as a bug repellent.

 It was a mixture of vinegar, sugar, and water 

to attract and kill bugs… it actually worked quite well!

 

One day’s worth of figs after being sorted.

Neighbor’s grapes

SO many interesting, crazy varieties of tomatoes

WOAH!!

We thought it was pretty comical that their tractor was a Lamborghini… we ARE in Italy!

One of the wedding cakes. 

They don’t have traditional wedding cakes, 

this was very delicious and rich chocolate cake. 

It was served one per table, no plates. 

Everyone at the table was given a fork, 

and it was shared among the guests. 

Think this would fly at a US wedding?

 

One of the weddings had fig tarts instead of cake. 

All the figs are from the farm and they are over an apple purée.

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We helped make sauce one day… step one MASH.

The farm also made sorbetti with all their fruit. We were somehow convinced to go to the market in Milan one evening, where we were left alone with the sorbetti cart. It was an interesting experience, as we barely knew a word of Italian!

We visited Bergamo on one of our day’s off. This is “lardo”. May not sound appetizing, but it is absolutely delicious! It’s very thinly sliced cured pork fat layered over a thin bread. The fat literally melts in your mouth. So good.

Burratta… perhaps the biggest burratta I will ever experience. It’s a fresh Italian cheese, with an outer layer of mozzerella. The inside is mozzarella curd which has been soaked in cream, it’s so rich and delicious!!

A neighbor’s horse farm.

The farm seen from the top of a neighbor’s vineyard.

Kissing Olives

Post courtesy of Acacia Kreidermacher.

For four days Hollie Legee and I helped a young family with their olive harvest. They consume around 13 gallons of olive oil a year and it’s all produced within an hour of their home.

We spent two days working in the orchard in their front yard. We collectively picked 54 trees and 400kg of olives with our host’s friends and family. Our hosts treated us to pizza out, a homemade meal with friends, and a meal at the woman’s parent’s home.

On the third day they brought us to the town where they go to church. We were able to walk around for an hour, while they were in church. That night we learned how to pick out olives for eating and how to make apple juice.

The final day was quite special.  Our host brought us to the olive press. We were there for three hours while the machines did their jobs. I could go into more detail if you wanted me to, but it’s a bit boring on paper. What you really need to do is go to an olive press yourself. There is no way to describe the green, fresh olive smell that hits you when you first walk into the press. Once our olive oil was ready our hosts gave us a bottle and sent us home with full bellies and two kisses on our cheeks.

This experience was the most memorable thing that has happened on my trip so far. If it weren’t for WWOOF this experience would have never happened and I wouldn’t be traveling home with a bottle of olive oil that I made.

Picture Perfect in Italy and Ireland

Post courtesy of Hannah Hoban.
Over the past week I have been quite the world traveler….or at least thats how my mother now refers to me. Starting on October 24th my entire program took off for Turin, Italy where we attended Salone Del Gusto an enormous food festival that brings together all types of food producers from around the globe to share their products and ideas on sustainability. There were so many samples I didn’t even have to buy dinner! Here are some pictures showing some of the vendors.




After 3 days of non stop eating,  Carrie Anne and I left for Milan where we took a flight to Dublin! We loved Dublin but was so not ready for it. It defeated us within one night of going out to the Pub. We spent three days there where we visited the Dublin Castel and went on a tour of Wicklow, the country side right outside fo Dublin. We also went to the Guinness factory where we were certified to pour the perfect pint.

UNH American Girls Make Pasta Company's Newsletter!

Studentesse americane in visita a La Campofilone (American students to visit Campofilone)

Giovedì 18 ottobre, un gruppo composto da 18 studentesse americane, provenienti dal New Hampshire ed attualmente residenti ad Ascoli Piceno per un semestre di studio all’estero, sono venute in azienda in visita al nostra laboratorio.   (Thursday, October 18, a group composed of 18 American students, coming from New Hampshire and currently residing in the city of Ascoli Piceno for a semester of study abroad, have come with the company visit to our laboratory.)  Le ragazze, accompagnate dalla Dott.ssa Aleandra Piccinini, docente dell’Università di Camerino per il corso di Scienze dell’alimentazione, hanno assistito con entusiasmo ed interesse alle varie fasi di preparazione della pasta e sono rimaste estasiate dal nostro metodo di lavorazione artigianale , nel pieno rispetto della tradizione di Campofilone. Grazie ragazze! E grazie alla Dott.ssa Piccinini!  (The girls, accompanied by Dr. Aleandra Piccinini, a professor at the University of Camerino for the course of the Sciences of the power supply, have assisted with enthusiasm and interest to the various stages of preparation of the paste and have remained being astonished by our method of craftsmanship, in full respect of the tradition of Campofilone. Thanks girls! And thanks to Dr. Piccinini!) Chi fosse interessato a visitare il nostro laboratorio, ci contatti il numero: 0734 931 294 o all’indirizzo  (If you are interested in visiting our laboratory, please contact us the number: 0734 931 294 or at the address) e-mail: lacampofilone@lacampofilone.com   elenco completo

Olives, Olives, Olives!

Another delicious post by Christina Wolf:

This past weekend was spent picking olives, watching beautiful sunsets, and making olive oil!  Through the WWOOF Italia site, we found a farm that was willing to put us up for the weekend.  We arrived to the farm early Friday morning and were soon picking away.   The farm was 5 Hectares and had 50 olive trees, tons of grapes, and other fruits and vegetables.  We primarily worked on the olive harvest.

These trees were not small.... It took us a whole day to do just ONE tree by hand.  We had to use ladders and ropes to get to the top branches. That one tree had 100 kilos worth of olives... thats about 200 pounds. Harvesting olives is very relaxing and fun- there is no wrong way to do.  You just run your hand over the branch and they all fall off... or you can give it a shake.

That night we helped Fabio make the oil.  He has a small machine that produces about 1 Liter , in 3 hours time.  Most farmers will bring their olives to a communal olive press at the end of their harvest, where you pay and it takes one hour to produce...  but Fabio doesn't agree with that.  He doesn't want his olive oil to mix with others.  I had a lot of respect for this man.  He wakes up at 5AM to make a batch of oil, works in the field from 8-5, then makes another batch of oil from 5-8pm.  Talk about a long day!  So far he has harvested half of his trees in a months time putting in way over 100 hours. Fabio has little help on the farm, except for the occasional WWOOFER.  His right-hand women is his 90 year old mother-in-law, who works just as hard as him.  I hope I have that ability at 90...  

The mesh catchs all the olives

Trying to keep our lovely cabin warm! 

Annie on the 6m ladder!

Terra Madre/Salone del Gusto

To start our week long break, we traveled to Torino for the bi-annual food festival, Terra Madre and Salone del Gusto.   It is sponsored by Slow Food, an international movement that promotes Good, Clean and Fair food.  This event was a foodies dream come true; there were over 1,500 food vendors from all over the world, representing more than 150 countries. There were also numerous free conferences with topics ranging from edible educations to pasta making, to seed freedom. Some big names in the food world were there including Alice Waters, Vandana Shiva and Carlo Petrini, and I got to see each of them speak.  We spent Thursday-Sunday at the event... I am pretty sure I spent over 40 hours there and didn't even see everything it had to offer.  The event was held in the old Fiat factory as well as the olympic speed-skating arena.

I got to try a variety of foods and drinks ranging from Palm Tree Beer to Rose Gelato to Reindeer Meat from Sweden (yes, Rudolph).   Almost every booth had some sort of sample with their country or regions signature food.   There was one room devoted to international foods and another two rooms solely for Italy.  The Italy room had enough meat, cheese and wine to last a life time.

On Saturday night I went to a pizza making workshop put on by the men of Naples.  Napoli was the birthplace of pizza. I tried five different pizzas and got the secret crust recipe to bring home....

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

homemade tagliatelle pasta!

palm tree beer from Brazil....apparently high in antioxidants

eating an Arancini- fried rice ball stuffed with peas, carrots and meat

Enoteca- wine tasting room.. over 2000 wines from Italy!

pizza with broccoli rabe, sausage and mozzarella di bufala 

Overall the weekend was very inspirational and gave me hope that this food movement is about to take over the world.  

Post by Christina Wolf, Recreation Management & Policy and EcoGastronomy Dual Major, UNH

Lecture and Q&A: Food Literate Leadership - Your Role in International Food System Reform

The UNH Center for International Education cordially invites you...

 Happy Returns 

IA Alumni sharing their journey from  campus to career

 Jacqueline Lewin (BA, French/International Affairs, 2005)

  Yale Sustainable Food Project, Event and Outreach Coordinator

Wed. Nov. 14th, 4:30-6 pm, MUB Entertainment Center

           Lecture and Q&A: Food Literate Leadership—

          Your Role in International Food System Reform

           
  (Gourmet refreshments provided by EcoGastronomy students)

At the Yale Sustainable Food Project, Jacquie educates “Food Literate Leaders” about why food choices matter for the health of our families, the environment and communities. Before joining the YSFP, Jacquie WWOOFed in France, Italy and Sweden, and worked in New Delhi, India as an assistant to Dr. Vandana Shiva. She received a Master's in Food Culture from Slow Food's University of Gastronomic Sciences in Parma, Italy, and a B.A. in French Studies and International Affairs from the University of New Hampshire. Jacquie is a home cook with Armenian roots who loves feeding people.
Sponsored by the Center for International Education
with support from the Class of 1954 Academic Enrichment Fund
Co-sponsored by the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs, MOSAICO (Latino/a student organization), and the CONNECT program.

For more information please contact the CIE office:

international.affairs@unh.edu  •  603-862-2398 •  http://www.unh.edu/cie/