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Turning Mines to Vines™

The similarities between the work of Roots of Peace and the objectives pursued by the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime, and by associations such as San Patrignano, all fighting to combat drug trafficking and marginalization, are striking.

Founded by Heidi Kuhn upon the death of Lady Diana Spencer – and represented at the goodFood convention at Squisito! by Flavia Taggiasco – Roots of Peace aims to turn Mines to Vines™, as the project has been named, in other words, help farmers in war-torn areas and eliminate the terrible "sowing" of this deadly device, enabling them to reclaim their livelihoods.  “A mine explodes every 30 minutes around the world,  killing or maiming someone who 90% of the time is an innocent bystander, and 30% of the time a child", explained the director of European Projects for Roots for Peace. "Mines do more than kill however, they also severely damage the ability to produce of countries already deeply scourged by war, freezing any potential recovery. Take Afghanistan for instance, torn apart by war for 30 years now, or Croatia, where a good harvest is one where no one dies."

Just as NOCD and San Patrignano fight to replace coca and poppy crops with coffee, tea or honey, Roots for Peace aims to demine farming land, having already found and defused about 100,000 land mines, and to help farmers recover their livelihoods, which in some cases have been destroyed for generations leaving no one to pass on the necessary skills.

Another extremely interesting example of how farming can be used to combat difficulty and marginalization was presented at Squisito! by Cristobal Colon, a psychiatrist who founded ‘Fageda’ in Catalonia. Fageda is a social cooperative for mentally challenged individuals, 70% of whom also work in the cooperative's production of top quality dairy products. The pillar of the Fageda programme is to produce and transform milk by itself, "Other firms don't have any cows or even a scrap of land, only true breeders living beside their animals learn how to respect them". Sales worth six million euro, 30 million pots of yoghurt, and 350 head of cattle:  these figures define the essence of what the initiative has achieved, now on an even par with some of the giants of the dairy and cheese producing industry. Even if Colon has a rather amusing recollection of how it all started in 1982, "A bunch of loonies led by a psychiatrist called Christopher Colombo: I'm not surprised no one took us seriously".

Rick Aubry on the other hand, founder of Rubicon Programs, has been at the head of the California-based non-profit organisation in the United States for 22 years now, giving work to people considered by society as unemployable: drug addicts, ex-convicts, or people with mental disabilities. The programme is supported amongst other things by the Rubicon Bakery, making bread and fine pastries which are sold in about 2,000 supermarkets across the US, and for the first time in Italy, also here at Squisito! Profits are reinvested in the organisation, and since 1973 40,000 people have been re-employed and more than 150 houses built. "The name refers to the famous tale in the history of Caesar, because we too had to decide whether to cross that river at the beginning. Our values are the same as those of San Patrignano: compassion, respect and accountability; donations are important, but we aim primarily to be self-sufficient and draw on the personal skills of each member to create new roles".

“I am honoured to be able to meet these people and learn about their experiences", concluded Andrea Muccioli, “which mirror our same belief that socially marginalized people also deserve respect. Organisations and bodies founded to counter drugs through demand reduction strategies never come face-to-face with bodies working on the frontline to reduce demand. Today at San Patrignano,  these two worlds met thanks to the United Nations and a wealth of small, individual enterprises, opening up a very necessary channel of communication.

For further information:  www.squisito.org, www.radiosnj.com