Don Quixote wanted to fight against windmills. The character born from the pen and the imagination of the Spanish writer Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra is the protagonist of his most important literary work, which later became one of the most important in the history of world literature. This odd character, I was saying, in one of the most famous episodes of the homonymous work, mistakes two windmills for huge giants who are pondering evil actions against their beloved Dulcinea. He then challenges them to a duel, accusing them of cowardice when they don't react to his provocations.
In short, a well-thought-out metaphor that means the useless waste of energy in a disproportionate fight against something or someone who doesn't even notice. But this is not the case with ours Stephen Caccavari, a young twenty-eight year old, which is the modern and Calabrian overturning of the Spanish character: his struggle to save the last stone mill in Calabria is a story worthy of a literary novel made of passion, feelings and desire to get involved.
Stefano Caccavari, a modern hero
Stefano's story begins right from his native town, San Floro, a town of less than seven hundred souls in the province of Catanzaro, a few kilometers from the Gulf of Squillace, surrounded by woods, large pastures and orchards, which have induced the inhabitants of the town to make the land their greatest source of livelihood. Not only that, in San Floro there were at least nine mills years ago, a number that had also earned him the nickname, up to the sixties, of "Valle dei Mulini".
An almost romantic denomination but which has been lost with the inevitable advance of technology: the arrival of modern cylinder mills, which have supplanted the stone ones that have been dismantled and discarded. The consequences of this passage, however, have also led to the disposal of local wheat crops, since the farmers, instead of producing the flour on their own, have begun to sell the wheat to industrial mills, which mix it with other grains produced elsewhere. When Stefano learned that even the last natural stone mill in his area was in danger of closing, he decided to take matters into his own hands to defend the precious tradition of local ancient grains and save the nineteenth-century stone mill in the valley, about to be sold by an old miller from Crotone to some Sienese entrepreneurs.
A fundraiser to save the mill
Even if technology risked destroying San Floro and its wheat fields, Stefano, with a degree in Business Economics, decides to use it in his favor, animated by his own spirit of initiative and above all by the love for his land. With a appeal on Facebook Stefano starts a fundraiser through crowdfunding: a collective loan of a group of people who use their money together to support the efforts of people and organizations. The rescue of the mill does not go through, but the collection immediately goes around the web, as the typical speed of social networks now requires, and within 48 hours 70 thousand euros had already been paid. In less than 90 days, the deadline set for the collection, Stefano Caccavari collects 500 thousand euros and signs the deed of constitution of the Mulinum Srl. 101 (a real charge of the 101), the partners of the “Mulinum” project have responded from all over the world: Marco from New York, Salvatore from Miami, Antonio from Beijing.
All ready to invest and above all to believe in a dream that also thanks to their contribution and the tenacity of a young Calabrian has become a concrete reality, capable of saving an entire country otherwise destined to become the seat of the largest landfill in Europe, a ecological island ready to accommodate 3 million cubic meters of garbage. Today, however, it is surrounded by vegetable gardens and wheat fields. It is thanks to this support that Caccavari was able create the largest agricultural startup in the world successfully, with the aim of bringing the ancient grain supply chain back to Calabria and relaunching its territory starting from agriculture, from zero kilometer products and from the workings of the past to make people appreciate in the present what was in danger of getting lost and invest in the future in turn.
Future projects
In a region like Calabria the difficulties are often enormous, but Stefano has shown everyone that if you believe in your dreams, they can also come true, without necessarily having to leave but also simply starting from a small town set in the far south of Italy. 'Italy. It starts with small numbers of course, but which show that there is a Calabria different from the one enclosed in the usual stereotypes, new, which does not give up, which looks to the future.
From the fundraising, a bio-sustainable building was created on 7 hectares of land in Torre del Duca, inaugurated in January, with natural stone millstones and a water wheel, like those in use 100 years ago. Here the ancient wheat, such as Senatore Cappelli, Rubeum (red soft wheat) and Iermano (rye), is ground and transformed into flour, there are also two ovens to produce traditional breads and an organic pizzeria. There are many types of bread that are baked: chocolate and hazelnut bread, chocolate and almonds, turmeric, seeds and nuts, brown bread with olives and dried tomatoes, as well as pitte and classic brunetto. For those who wish, the "Mulinum" is also available. card ”, which will allow subscribers to book and receive flour produced in San Floro throughout Italy, and beyond.
After reaching 500 thousand euros with the first online fundraising campaign, Stefano has a new goal: use equity crowdfunding again to reach 1 million and land in Tuscany as well.
The young Caccavari is looking for other partners to continue grinding the local ancient grains, producing bread and pasta, which are already traveling around the world and aiming to open a mill in Val d'Orcia, in the heart of Tuscany, between Siena and Florence.
