No Cap, the ethical tomato from a young man from Ragusa who fights illegality

The "La Vita Bio" farm has received the No Cap ethical certification: no workers are illegal, employed in conditions of semi-slavery or underpaid, thanks to the courage of its young owner, Nicola Arena, to expose himself. In an area where agriculture is often under the control of the mafia,

di |
ethical agriculture no cap

Chiaramonte Gulfi It's a small town of eight thousand inhabitants in the Ragusa province, one of many municipalities in Southern Italy primarily based on agriculture, olive growing, and viticulture, so much so that even the official municipal website lists it as "the city of oil." It's not uncommon for, amid the indifference of institutions and the complicit silence of a supply chain that's too often uncontrolled, cases of semi-slavery among workers in the sector, or even actual forms of gang labor, to arise.

ALSO READ: Goel, organic farming, tourism, and fashion to create an alternative to the 'Ndrangheta

ETHICAL AGRICULTURE NO CAP

It is precisely in this municipality in the province of Ragusa that the fight against exploitation has been forcefully reaffirmed. This is the second stage (after Puglia) of a network that aims to bring together all ethical farms that do not employ illegal or, worse, exploited workers. The driving force behind this revolution is Nicola Arena, a young entrepreneur who has dedicated his life to producing datterini, cherry, and yellow cherry tomatoes, using both traditional and organic farming methods, with two lines of preserves, sauces, gravies, and pestos. Fiercely rooted in its Sicilian heritage, which it makes a distinctive feature, La Vita Bio immediately decided to join the No Cap Campaign, which aims to establish a consortium for every farm that rejects gang-mastering, illegal labor, and any form of slave labor in the fields.

Those who join the campaign promoted by the association of the same name founded by Yvan Sagnet and the Rete per la Terra, as Nicola did, receive a real stamp which certifies the ethics of the company and the respect for the rights of the workers employed in the production chain of the No Cap branded product, which stands for No Caporali.
Among the criteria to obtain it, first of all there is The work ethic, which must be fully respected, with regular workers paid wages that aren't starvation wages. But also the short supply chain, an approach to waste reduction, decarbonization, how animals are treated, and the type of product itself, which must represent high added value.  

For example, La Vita Bio's sauces and preserves are certified ethical: Nicola, seizing the opportunity to regularize farm laborers, has legalized all his workers, continuing his business in full compliance with the law, thus removing grey areas and pockets of illegal work from the control of the mafia and illegality. 

«The NoCap project – explains the owner of the company in an interview with the Fresh Plaza portal – aims to combat gangmastering and, more generally, irregular work in the agricultural sector, guaranteeing producers a fair price for their products and workers the application of collective bargaining agreements. In this experimental phase, the NoCap project is active in three areas of Italy: Capitanata (Puglia), where tomatoes are harvested and transformed into preserves (peeled and pureed), in Metapontino (Basilicata) where a hundred workers collect and package fresh fruit and vegetable products and in the Ragusano (Sicily), where about forty workers grow some local tomato varieties."

ethical agriculture no cap

TO KNOW MORE: Sustainable tourism: The Fiori di Campo cooperative in Sicily, property confiscated from the mafia.

LA VITA BIO FARM

The kind of entrepreneur the country's agriculture needs, one who personally takes action to fight gangmastering and crime, too often present in an area like Ragusa, but more generally in Southern Italy, where mafias, low-wage illegal labor, and even blackmail and violence against female workers seem to be the norm. And if one thinks gangmastering and slavery are obsolete or nonexistent, perhaps one should carefully examine the figures on the phenomenon, presented in the fourth report. Agri-mafias and gangmastering of the Placido Rizzotto Observatory of Flai-Cgil which was presented last July.

Even today, unfortunately, 400 agricultural workers are at risk, 28 percent of whom are migrants and disadvantaged people, who receive wages far below the national average: an economic and moral scandal. The business of irregular labor and gangmastering in agriculture is worth nearly 5 billion euros, with a irregularity rate equal to 39,9%, taking away from the state coffers, in terms of tax evasion, almost 2 billion euros.

The network of ethical companies, however, is growing. Not only in terms of membership, but also, and above all, in terms of turnover. The La Vita Bio brand, in fact, is growing by 30% and is present in foreign large-scale retail outlets in Austria, Switzerland, and Germany, as well as in Denmark and Japan.

(Images highlighted and accompanying the text taken from the No Cap Facebook page)

STORIES OF THE FIGHT AGAINST THE MAFIA:

 

Want to see a selection of our news?

Don't Waste