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The Ark
Story and Photographs
By: Stephen Ashton
So
by this time the idea of this event is beginning to sink
in. I now appreciate the importance of putting nearly extinct
dishes onto the gastronomic ““Endangered
Species List" known as The Ark Of
Tastes. We all head over to the Spedale
di Sant’Antonio, a beautifully designed 15th
Century building consisting of a series of seven arches
made from the stone that Lastra a Signa
is famous for. The building originated as a Hospital (“spedale"),
more in the sense of offering hospitality in the form of
a resting place for travelers. Since the 15th century travelers
were provided bread, wine, vegetables from Guild gardens,
and a place to sleep. Since Lastra a Signa
was on an important trade route, it was the Consoli
dell’Arte della Seta (Consuls of the
Silk Guild) that had the building designed by Florentine
master architects – in fact, many argue that it too
was designed by the famed Brunelleschi.
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These
endeavors and beneficial services, started nearly 600 years
ago, are the result of enlightened cooperation between business
interests, religious orders and the municipality. In fact,
this historic project is a model for today's cooperative
activities not just in this lovely little town, but in the
Florentine and Tuscan regions in general. Tuscany has through
the ages been at the vanguard of progressive humanist thought
and human rights. On November 30th, 1786, Tuscany became
the first State in the Western world to pass an Act banning
torture and capital punishment. And Tuscany today is the
leader in the movement towards “Sustainable
Agriculture and Biodiversity.
The
tradition of compassion and social responsibility continues
in Lastra a Signa with the Antichi
Sapori event: it includes an “EcoFest”
with a special symposium called “Water For
Peace,”that tackles Global Water Issues in
honor of the International Year of Water. The dining tent
is decorated with huge panels that illustrate the problems
and propose solutions. A major figure in the Antichi
Sapori event is the 49 year old Mayor of Lastra
a Signa, Carlo Moscardini, a visionary
who has enrolled a number of his colleagues from 9 neighboring
villages to participate in a project that provides drinking
water for villages in “The South"(South
Italy and especially third world villages of the Southern
Hemisphere) that suffer from drought. We are blessed
to live in the rich North,”Mayor Moscardini
says, “but we have a moral duty to the poor in The
South. We raised 900,000 euros (over one million $US)
for food and water projects in South Africa. We need to
cultivate sustainable ideas for an equitable society as
well as wonderful foods.”
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