Paolo and Micaela quit their jobs to grow saffron

GRADUATES WHO CHOOSE AGRICULTURE

Would you ever leave a job as a bank manager or an architect in a prestigious firm to go and grow saffron ? Paolo and Michela did, and a few years later they are convinced it was the right choice . "We decided to change our lives , leaving our previous jobs to build this new company together," reads the common thread on the website that describes their "creation": the Corda Paolo agricultural company.

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AGRICULTURAL GRADUATES

This farm was born in the beautiful hills of the Monferrato area of ​​Asti , where Paolo Corda and Micaela Soldano , 31 and 35 years old respectively, decided to revive the ancient cultivation of saffron . "From ancient historical treatises from the 15th century," we read on the red thread, "we discovered that our lands were a reference point for the cultivation of saffron, and it is from these texts that our adventure began." Thus, seven years ago, the two young people left their jobs as architects and bank managers for agriculture . Today, they manage their fields using a method that is not strictly organic or biodynamic but which they define as "common sense ." They do not use chemicals , herbicides or preventative treatments and carry out every phase of the process by hand, without the aid of mechanical means . All this attention has resulted in a limited and non-intensive production , in the name of quality but which has allowed Paolo and Micaela to achieve economic stability since the second year of activity. In addition to saffron, the company also produces strawberry , raspberry , blueberry and blackberry jams.

The photos are taken from the Instagram profile Il filo rosso

GRADUATE FARMERS

When they took this leap into the unknown, the two young people were successful recent graduates who had found satisfying employment. Micaele began working at a very young age, moving from insurance to banking , working his way up to bank manager . As he advanced in his career, he graduated with a degree in Economics and Business Management. Paolo, on the other hand, graduated with honors in Architecture and for several years worked in a firm that focused on renewable energy sources and green building, as well as being a faculty assistant to a professor. " Being a farmer doesn't mean doing a demeaning job : we are educated, entrepreneurial, and in step with society," Micaela declared in a recent interview with Il Fatto Quotidiano . Like Paolo and Micaela, more and more young people are choosing to return to the land . Also because, if entering offices and studios is increasingly difficult, there is no shortage of fields to cultivate especially for those who, after a university course, want to reinvent themselves and reinvent the most traditional profession there is.

The cover photo is taken from the Facebook page Il filo rosso

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