ALICE

Dinner was ready. Alice had planned everything the day before: she had contacted a food blogger friend of hers for some tasty new ideas, ordered her shopping online and cooked remotely thanks to her smart kitchen connected to her tablet

Only the finishing touches were left. She got home a little earlier than usual so that she could relax and wait for Marco to join her. She was already imagining their evening snuggled up on the sofa, eating and watching a Netflix series. Cosy, relaxing evenings together were a rarity as they were both so busy, so the opportunity to spend some time together was to be cherished. Alice worked for a large international advertising agency and Marco, a brilliant A&E doctor, often had to work exhausting shifts.

Thanks to home automation and smart appliances, cooking had never been so easy and fun for Alice. She lived in an attractive, shabby-chic three-room apartment, which she had designed with the help of her architect uncle. Incorporating smart technology enabled her to set cooking times and modes any time and from anywhere. Today once again, she had been able to prepare an impressive dinner well in advance and without too much effort. Both she and Marco were very particular about their food choices, following a vegetarian, plant-based diet. They detested junk food, avoided sandwiches hastily gulped down during lunch breaks and, above all, had completely eliminated intensively farmed fish and meat. The young couple was very sensitive to environmental issues, reading books like Eating Animals by the US writer Jonathan Safran Foer and Animal Liberation by the philosopher Peter Singer, a reference text for the animal rights movement.

Alice opened a bottle of Valpolicella Classico DOC, arranged the various dishes on the table and contemplated her menu with satisfaction. Creamy spiced pea soup, whole wheat piadinas with cannellini bean hummus, cherry tomatoes and onions, a savoury radicchio tart, and to finish off, a sublime strudel with Trentino apples, pine nuts, raisins and cinnamon. It was a perfect balance of proteins, carbohydrates and vegetables.

Everything was just right when Marco arrived: artfully soft lighting, the woody fragrance of smouldering sandalwood, and soft jazz playing in the background. The couple spent a lovely evening watching TV, savouring the food and chatting about this and that. It was at that moment Alice had an idea. She told Marco that in her free time she would like to grow her own fruit and vegetables, as she felt the need to reconnect with nature. All that advanced technology was fantastic, of course – it solved a myriad of practical issues... And yet, she said, she felt a pressing need to immerse herself in nature, to take in its scents, breathe in its colours, and go back to basics to reconnect with Mother Nature.

Alice’s face lit up as she talked. “You know, Marco,” she continued excitedly, “growing a vegetable garden could be a fantastic opportunity to surround ourselves with nature without going too far from home. And, instead of wasting time sifting through products of questionable origin, we could look for a piece of land where we could produce good quality vegetables. What do you think?

It would be the perfect way to consume exclusively plastic-free products, make an ethical choice based on a new awareness of food, and learn how to cultivate organic, exotic or unusual produce. You know as well as I do that while the vegetables in the supermarket look wonderful, they usually turn out to be flavourless, as they tend to come from intensive farming. Not to mention the practically non-existent nutritional value. It’s always so disappointing!”

And so, Alice’s new green adventure began with Marco’s full support. A Google search identified a series of urban allotments available to residents – something that she had heard a lot about and which was now well established in most cities around the globe. Over the following days, she found a small green space close to her house owned by the council, which was assigned to her after paying a relatively symbolic rental fee. Filled with enthusiasm, she enrolled in an online course called “The Beginner’s Kitchen Garden” and dusted off her childhood memories of helping her grandmother in the garden. The important thing was to get stuck in ... after which, all you can do is learn from your mistakes.

She bought a spade, a hose and a rake, and checked that there was water near the plot to allow for cultivation. She removed stones, dug up weeds and roots, scattered fertiliser, flattened the soil, and planted four types of vegetables to start with – potatoes, courgettes, onions and beans. She also added some herbs she had bought from a nursery. Over time, she became increasingly expert; she quickly learned how to seed and replant vegetables without using chemicals or pesticides, how to protect the vegetable garden using natural methods, to respect planting periods, manage weeds, irrigate, fertilise and make her own compost using organic kitchen waste.

The months went by and Alice was ever-more satisfied and radiant. Marco also developed a passion for their new hobby. Both of them realised how satisfying it was to use their spare time to do something useful for themselves and for society. In no time at all, they became exemplary urban farmers, christened their land L’Orto di Alice (Alice’s Kitchen Garden) and got several friends involved in the initiative, in the growing awareness that, in addition to being good for health and the environment, urban gardens were the ideal places to meet up and overcome the quintessential loneliness of urban living.

Not only did they discover the true value of the land and respect for nature, but above all they realised the importance and the pleasure of being together, reinforcing bonds of love, community and friendship every day.