I was born and raised in a tiny village of 500 people in the Venetian countryside, surrounded by miles and miles of flatlands dotted with sleepy villages like mine–a place with no apparent rhyme or reason outside of its rural vocation.

It hasn’t always been this way, or so I am told. The land was diversified, fertile, and, more importantly, populated. Canals were crystal clear and full of fish. The abandoned farmhouses that punctuate today’s landscape were once active centers of food production and consumption–of cereals, fruits, vegetables, and courtyard animals.