All food depends on the soil but if we are not committed to conserving it, in the very near future the harvests will be scarce and insufficient. The UN Agenda 2030 highlighted i risks of agricultural soil degradation for man, biodiversity and the environment, inviting everyone, citizens, businesses and institutions to raise awareness of the sustainable management and efficient use of natural resources. “Italy – declares Lino Falcone, “grain grower” biologist, member of the Environmental Association Terra Cibo e Cultura – is the first pasta producer in the world. Today it imports about half of the wheat requirement but if it does not protect the soil in 30/40 years it will be forced to import 100% of his needs. The agricultural soil is dying, we are called to its conservation starting today, with a path that could bring valid results in 20/30 years".
From this need was born live pasta, the first Italian durum wheat pasta project grown without ploughing, created to raise public awareness on the delicate topic of agricultural soil conservation, hoping it will come to the attention of institutions and farmers in order to apply more sustainable agricultural practices for the planet.
The foundations of this project were laid in 2019 and today, post pandemic, there are many innovations in the pipeline.
Every year the plowing nullifies the 100-year work of nature to make the soil fertile
Soil degradation is mainly due to the plowing technique which deprives it of fertility and biodiversity, causes surface erosion and contributes decisively to desertification. Worldwide, the FAO still estimates 60 harvests before the complete unproductiveness of the agricultural soil.
In Italy, durum wheat occupies an area of more than a million hectares, concentrated above all in central-southern Italy where, due to a hot climate associated with limited rainfall and practically non-existent crop rotations, the estimate could even be halved. “Every year the plowing nullifies the hundred years of work that nature employs to build a fertile soil rich in biodiversity. The life of the planet depends on a living soil. FAO underlines 6 advantages deriving from a living soil: healthy food, biodiversity, containment of greenhouse gases, containment of forced migrations, clean water, medicines for human health” specifies Falcone.
Eleven formats inspired by regional history and tradition
Pastalive is made exclusively with Italian durum wheat produced in a natural way respecting the fertility and biodiversity of the soil in eleven formats inspired by the history and the Italian regional tradition: the Balzaiole, the Picelle and the Torcielli from Tuscany, the Siligine from Lazio, the Mole and the Reels from Molise, the Angele from Puglia, i Cuoppi from Campania, the Schianatelle from Basilicata, the Nnammuri from Sicily and the Sirine from Calabria. (Cost € 5,00 for ½ kg)
The milling of the Pastalive wheat, carried out with stone to allow the wheat germ to spread all its precious organoleptic properties homogeneously in the flour, ensures a semi-wholemeal semolina, with a low glycemic index and rich in aromas and flavours. “For the production of the pasta we rely on artisanal pasta factories because we believe that the creation of the pasta is an important step that must be followed with care and love. But passion is not enough, the professionalism resulting from traditions is fundamental. In fact, our pasta factories enhance the semolina with wheat germ skilfully processed by the Pastalive millers, creating healthy and nutritious products” explains the “grain cultivator” biologist.
There is also a flour specially designed for pizza and bread, it is Molasalsa, which takes its name from the flour once ground by hand by the Vestal Virgins, priestesses of the cult of Vesta, the goddess of the domestic hearth. The flour produced was so precious that it was considered the "Flour of the Gods". Today it is a flour balanced in fibres, rich in aromas and flavours, which gives pizza and bread fragrance and lightness
