Interviews

Alina Moreno

   Alina Moreno graduated from Northeastern University with degrees in sustainable sciences and landscape architecture. In the summer of 2022, she worked on a small, regenerative farm in Tuscany, Italy.

   The farm produced everything for their local area: grapes for wines, olives for olive oil, a small vegetable farm, fifteen sheep and cows, and made their own cheese and milk.  

   Her knowledge of sustainable agriculture expanded as she was involved in regenerative practices such as recycling animal manure, catching rainwater to feed the animals, rotational grazing for sheep to maintain grass lengths in garden areas, compost, recycling food waste for chicken feed, feeding fallen olive leaves to sheep during olive harvest. 

   She emphasized the differences in farming culture between Italy and the U.S. She noted that regenerative agriculture is traditional, however we place the "regenerative" label on it due to the conventional practices we took on during the Green Revolution.

   In Italy, tradition means organic and is mostly the default farming method used. There is a strong negative sentiment towards commercial farms as many Italian farmers believe they destroy Italy's history and culture as well as deteriorate human health through using chemical pesticides and fertilizers. 

   There is a larger number of small farms in Italy compared to the United States. Farming in the U.S. is more about profit whereas Italy focuses on quality over quantity. Italian farms put their names on each of their products which emphasizes the quality of their goods whereas U.S. farmers can be more anonymous and sell their produce to large corporations. 

    Moreno's experience in Italy gave an insightful look into the differences in farming cultures between Italy and the U.S., offering more explanations for why sustainable farming may not be progressing within the farming community. 

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Matthew Greco

   Matthew Greco is the founder of My Health Forward, an organization that works to support small sustainable farms by selling their products online to consumers. In my conversation, Greco emphasized how the seed industry often holds farmers back from becoming sustainable. 

   When asked if Greco believes that it is realistic to believe all commercial farmers can become sustainable, he stated that he does not think huge conventional farms will make that change---they prioritize profits. In fact, Greco said that it would be unattainable for commercial farms to switch as our food industries are so centralized. If major farms were to switch to organic, sustainable methods, the transition period to regain the soil's health would cause food scarcity throughout the U.S. Instead, Greco says that the future of sustainability in the farming industry must come from the people. Rather than a trickle-down effect from the big, commercial farms, the small local farms must pressure the big farms. If consumer demand increases for local, sustainable farming goods, commercial farms will be forced to change their systems. This all comes from people valuing farmers markets and buying their food locally, instead of the ease and temptation that comes from buying commercialized foods in grocery stores. Greco ended the interview with a strong quote from a farmer named Will Harris who said, "Regenerative agriculture cannot scale but can spread."