Both the words ecology and economy derive from the same root oikos, or the Greek word to indicate "home" in the broadest sense, both of the domestic hearth and of work in the fields. As long as the economy was focused on management in this area, it recognized and respected the cycles of nature and its ability to renew itself as its foundations. At a certain point, towards the end of the Sixties onwards, everything changed: the farmers, tired of a life of misery and tribulation, flocked to the cities in droves, abandoning the land, galvanized by more prosperous and dignified economic prospects, attracted by an industry that required labor in exchange for good wages and low-cost homes.
The Marche, thanks to the foresight of some men of undoubted intellectual ability and great charisma, were the first to stop this phenomenon which in some respects seemed unstoppable and promoted a reversal of the trend: stopping this transhumance, promoting a agriculture free of poisons and pesticides and recreate those values that now seemed to be definitively lost. However, it was necessary to re-evaluate a certain oikos, which also meant placing emphasis on the danger of a system that today shows its limits and evils in all respects. In a certain sense, Le Marche was prophetic and far-sighted, but it must also be said that countering a now consolidated power was not easy: in the midst of many interests, political systems and chemical industries which, feeling threatened, tried to hinder and ridicule the phenomenon but despite everything, with the cunning (of true farmers) and with faith in what is done and defended, today this region has a territory that is largely cultivated organically and, with the decline of industrialization , has been able to reconvert itself by sending a message: nature and culture always walk together, knowing is recognizing, it is feeling at home, it is covering oneself with a sense that gives names to things and removes them from anonymity. And to alienation.
Thinking about the Marche region therefore means feeling at home, within yourself, in your own body. In a natural way.
