Olive Oil Supporting Mental Health: Social Reintegration Initiative

At the olive festival, solidarity oil was also for sale. During the sixth edition of the event, which occupied the entire past weekend, in the small lakeside town, among the stalls present in the piazza del porto, there was one truly special. It was somewhat set apart from the others and, at first glance, also appeared simpler and more “rustic.” Essentially, it consisted of a small table covered with a modest green cloth with large, somewhat plain embroidery; behind the stand, in turns, stood an elderly gentleman with gray hair and teeth worn down by time, and another around thirty-five years old. The goods displayed, although similar to those at other, less improvised stalls, were profoundly different. Inside rather dark, square bottles with a rustic yellow label bearing the inscription “Olio della Solidarietà extravergine grezzo di oliva,” meticulously arranged as only senior citizens know how to do, was the oil. The price of each bottle was around twenty thousand lire, but the actual value of each bottle was much higher. This was, in fact, oil produced through the care of olive trees, made by three mentally disabled individuals from the Progetto Emanuele of the Veronese Alpine colonies. While the identity of the specific gray-haired old “nonno” remains unknown—perhaps a former surveyor—the ID card of the young man behind the table belonged to Amos Guatta Caldini, president of the provincial assistance and charity organization. The Progetto Emanuele, in collaboration with the Self-help San Giacomo psychiatric center in Verona, has brought three young mentally disabled individuals to Albisano, the hilly hamlet of Torri, for about a year. Three people, in other words, called “crazy” by the rest of society, are seeking their social reintegration thanks to this initiative. At full capacity, it could employ a maximum of ten people in the olive groves of Albisano, owned by the alpine colonies. “This oil,” Guatta Caldini explained, “comes from the work of three people who, in just over a year, managed to produce about 250 kilograms and to replant an olive grove. The proceeds from sales will go entirely to the Progetto Emanuele in Albisano, which is restoring dignity of life to these particular patients, mostly schizophrenics or depressed. It will not bring economic profit from the agricultural work of the mentally disabled, but certainly the benefits that result from their social reintegration cannot go unnoticed.” Such reintegration was not always easy, as initial adaptation difficulties were numerous in Bardino, where the disability facility is located. In fact, tools and other agricultural equipment owned by the alpine colonies, used by the disabled, had been stolen in recent months, adding further difficulties and mistrust between the residents and the local community of Albisano. “But now,” Caldini concluded, “things are improving, and perhaps already this spring we will be able to increase the number of boys employed. Furthermore, the Baldo Mountain Community has shown interest by proposing the creation of a small experimental center for olive cultivation. We will see if this further opportunity will materialize, after the significant help and support given by the Torri administration, which proposed that we participate in selling the oil at the olive festival, and from the agriculture department of the Province.” Gerardo Musuraca