Amalfi, Italy (CNN) — Atop the green hills of the Amalfi Coast in southern Italy, a nimble farmer leaps from terraced lemon groves overlooking the Mediterranean Sea.
Balancing between one wooden pole and the other, the so young acrobat defying gravity, bends to pick up the lemurs and lifts them from 25 kg (55 lb) between vertical gardens more than 400 m (1,312 ft) above the ground. Carries in overweight boxes. ,
A strong aroma of rosemary surrounds it, mixed with the unique bitter aroma of jasmine, sage, and of course, citrus. The sound of the waves below hides the noise of car traffic and tourists in the main square of Amalfi, a UNESCO-protected city.
“Not the blood, but the lemon juice runs in my veins,” says 87-year-old farmer Gigino Aceto, whose family has been growing lemons here since the 1800s.
From dawn to dusk, aceto’s life revolves around lemons. He sleeps in his lemon groves and eats lemon food. He was also conceived among these plants.
“In the old days of my parents, the lack of space and intimacy meant that love was made outside, under citrus trees,” he says with a smile.
giant fruit
Low Hanging Fruit: Amalfi lemons are known for their large size.
Federico Angeloni
Limes are the beating heart of the region’s complex, biodiverse ecosystem, which has remained unchanged for centuries. But Aceto is one of the last custodians of this vulnerable tradition, which is now threatened by industrialization, changes in society and climate change.
“In Amalfi, lime terraces have decreased from 72 hectares to 48 between 1954 and 2015, while wild forests and urbanization have increased significantly,” says Giorgia de Pasquale, an architect and researcher at Roma Tre University, who helped the family. Looking for ways to preserve. Lemon growing business.
De Pasquale is working to achieve “Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System” status for Amalfi’s lemon trees – a designation under the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization programme.
“The process that happens in Amalfi is the same across the coast,” she says.
a treat for all
With its pale-yellow color, intense aroma, juicy texture and sweet skin – it can be eaten sliced like an apple – Sfusato has become a staple ingredient in the region’s traditional cuisine.
It is used in pasta dishes, sauces for salads and grilled fish, desserts – not to mention Italy’s famous limoncello liqueur. And because of its properties – it is rich in vitamins C, B, E, potassium and magnesium – the inhabitants of the coast have found myriad uses, from cleaning clothes to natural medicine.
“The first thing we do when we wake up with a headache is add a little lemon peel to our morning coffee,” explains Aceto. “When we cut ourselves, we run to clean lemons. If we feel sick, there’s nothing lemon spaghetti can’t cure.”
But it is not just the nutritional and medicinal properties that have made Sfusati so fundamental to the region. Traditional agricultural systems – a remarkable 15th-century example of man and nature working in harmony – have proven resilient to climate change instability.
Wild rock sculpture overlooking the ocean, the systematic architecture of lemon trees curb some of the region’s worst problems, including landslides caused by rain and wildfires.
“Farmers provide a systematic service to the entire region, protecting the coastline from landslides and other environmental disasters,” says de Pasquale. Without this agricultural activity, she adds, the landscape of Amalfi and the entire coastline would disappear, deteriorating year after year.
‘a disaster’
Lemon trees fill the steep slopes.
Federico Angeloni
Arranged vertically in layers, the lemon groves are separated by walls of three to seven meters, made of macarea – a local limestone that is resistant to soil pressure and impervious to rain. Even today the grove can be reached on foot or by mules.
Terracing systems use the force of gravity to direct rainwater to irrigate plants.
“Everything works in sync with the ground,” says Salvatore, 57, Aceto’s son.
“With the frequent fires in the summer, it’s a disaster,” he says.
“Maintaining the land should be a collective act. The roofs are attached to each other. But today they are either abandoned or converted into holiday homes and illegal constructions.”
The low profitability and high cost of the traditional farming system has pushed more and more amalfitans away from the land, causing walls to crumble. Tourism is rising to problematic levels in parts of Amalfi, giving them another, perhaps easier, source of income.
“The work is hard here, not like in the valley, but no one wants to work hard anymore,” says Salvatore Aceto, his quote solidly destined. “Plus, they use cheaper methods like cement. [or] Lime, which damages the landscape, clogs drainage and causes landslides.”
a dying art
In Minori, a town along Italy’s Amalfi Coast, Stanley Tucci samples lemons he calls the best in the world.
There is a risk, he says, that when his generation stops cultivating the land, the knowledge that local communities have accumulated over the centuries could disappear altogether.
“Most tourists who come to Amalfi are unaware of this system across the main road,” explains De Pasquale, cutting farmers off from tourism dollars coming to the region.
They lead groups of up to five people, spending hours among terraces built over a thousand years ago, teaching them culinary skills such as cooking a dish of lemon or processing local honey.
“It’s convenient to have a certain image of the Amalfi Coast, but we don’t bow down to tourists and distort our business,” Salvatore said. “We are farmers, and that’s what we show.”
“At 5.30 a.m., my clothes are dirty, and my knees are tired. It’s a job that destroys you. These are the two faces of Amalfi—the one you want tourists to see,” he says of the city. pointing down towards the slope. “And the real one, the real life of the farmers.”
“Something else has gone downstairs.”