Covering a Changing Food Industry, One Ingredient at a Time

In this issue of Lapilli+, we spotlight a new editorial initiative through an interview with its creator, Alessio Cannata, a writer for the Italian publication Linkiesta. A few months ago, Cannata launched a column dedicated to agriculture called Agrikola (the name roughly translates to "agricultural") to challenge myths and clichés surrounding farming, a sector deeply connected to many of the topics we explore: the Mediterranean, climate change and the lives of those who experience these realities every day. We hope you enjoy the read!

In the upcoming summer editions, we will mostly focus on themes surrounding the marine environment and initiatives that we learned about during the 2025 United Nations Ocean Conference in Nice.

In an era when the story of food is often told through finished dishes, celebrity chefs and gourmet experiences, Agrikola offers a shift in perspective. Launched within the food section of the Italian newspaper Linkiesta, the project has an ambitious goal: to retrace the food supply chain, starting from its true origins — the land and the hands of its producers — while also exploring production choices and the environmental contexts in which food is grown.

“We want to tell the story of food where it truly begins — not on the plate, not at the table, not in the hands of a chef, but through those who grew it, raised it and fished it,” says Alessio Cannata, author and creator of Agrikola, who is a longtime contributor to Linkiesta and has consistently approached food with a focus on everyday consumption, not high-end dining.

“I don’t talk about recipes or starred restaurants,” he says. “I talk about the food we find in supermarkets, markets and refrigerators, aiming to spread a food culture that’s closer to everyday life.”

It’s precisely this perspective that gave rise to Agrikola — a project that seeks to move beyond glossy food journalism. “It’s much easier to read about a restaurant meal than to understand what’s inside a packet of cookies or where the carrot on your plate comes from,” Cannata says.

In Italy, agriculture is often discussed only in moments of crisis — rising wheat prices, extreme weather events or investigations into exploitative labor practices — or portrayed in idyllic, almost fairy-tale tones. “There are always two extremes,” Cannata explains. “On one side, the young idealist starting a small niche farm; on the other, exposés on gang mastering. But no one talks about everything in between.”

And what lies in between is a complex supply chain — an interconnected production system rooted in the land, a resource to be protected rather than exploited.

“Our goal is to tell the story of food where it takes shape,” he says, “not just when it reaches the plate or the table.”

With this perspective in mind, the focus shifts from portraying the producer as heroic to the actual production process — its trajectory and impact. The goal is to move beyond simplistic narratives of the straw-hat farmer or the small, virtuous business that, while real and worth telling, do not represent the full picture. Agriculture today is also an advanced, technological and multidisciplinary sector — far removed from the romanticized, old-fashioned image often associated with it.