Two weeks ago, we had a week full of day trips, some of which were more interesting than others. The main highlights were two farm visits. On Wednesday, we visited an area of Tuscany called Mugello, where many of the farms produce beef. We visited a couple of farms and got tours of the facilities. One of the farms was certified organic, but we were told that all of the farms in Mugello were producing their beef organically even if they didn't have the certification to prove it (certification can be expensive). So we met a whole lot of cows that day. Then we had lunch, which was bread with olive oil, an assortment of cured meats including wild boar, pecorino (sheep's milk) cheeses, and an amazing soup that I don't know the name of. After lunch, we had what was certainly one of the most interesting experiences thus far; we went to a slaughterhouse. We were given a thin plastic jacket to put on, masks to cover our mouths, and shoe covers. Although we didn't see the process of slaughtering the animals, we did get a tour of the facilities where they do it, and we saw plenty of meat hanging in each room. They taught us about the labeling process once the meat is packaged, and unlike in America, each package has a set of codes on it which can be traced back to a single cow at a particular farm. Even the ground beef has this labeling, which means that a package of ground beef her in Italy comes from just one cow, whereas in the United States it could contain pieces of 1000 cows. This certainly makes it easier to trace any contamination problems that may arise, and personally, I like the idea of my hamburger containing meat from one cow instead of fragments of cows from 3 different continents.
I thought the slaughterhouse was an incredibly unique experience. The slaughtering of animals for human consumption is something that people don't like to think about too often, but I think it's important to appreciate that this does happen and must happen in order for you to have meat on your plate. Just because we humans no longer need to hunt for food doesn't mean we shouldn't understand the process. It doesn't make eating meat wrong or savage or any other negative spin you can attach to it; it's the cycle of life. In order for us to eat, something else must die. That's how nature works. This experience was also unique because it would NEVER happen in the United States. A slaughterhouse would never let a bunch of students through their doors, let alone give us a tour of the place and teach us how they operate. I'll probably never do it again.
On Friday of that week, we took a 3 hour trip to Maremma, which is another region in Tuscany that is on the shoreline. We visited a very unique farm. While they grow a few crops, like grapes and olives, their main production is an ancient breed of cattle called Maremmana. This breed of cattle has been preserved since the end of the Ice Age, and it was never domesticated. This means that it is still technically a wild animal, and it has thick skin to survive the cold and big horns to protect itself from predators. This farm had a huge amount of land to accommodate these animals needs. They were allowed to roam free within the land for their whole lives, essentially as they would live in the wild, until just a few weeks before slaughter when a cowboy herds them into a smaller area where they're fed hay. I bought a small steak for that night's dinner, and it did not disappoint. While we were there, we had some time to walk on the beach, which felt really great since the weather was perfect that day, and in hindsight it was probably one of the last really nice, warm days I will see until next spring. That's depressing :(
That night after we returned to Florence, I took a train to Rome to meet up with Paul, Peter, and Peter's sister Bev. It was really great to see them, and we had a great day and a half in Rome. I've got work to do and I have already spent too much time writing my blog, but I'll just say that the weather was perfect, we got a fantastic tour of the Vatican, including the Sistine Chapel before it opened in the morning, ate a wonderful dinner outside, and ate some of the best gelato I've had yet. All four of us came back to Florence on that Sunday, and I will have to talk about that another time. Ciao!
Tuscan Cowboy
Maremmana
Me and My Roommates
Cows at Mugello
Slaughterhouse
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