Earth Day Interviews: Tomatoes, Olive Oil and Seafood

Eataly works with farmers on the frontline of this generation's most pressing environmental issues. They might be ranchers, cheesemakers or beekeepers, but they are also entrepreneurs, experts and innovators. For them, Earth Day is not just a moment on the calendar — it is 365 days a year.

Eataly Magazine spoke with some of our small producers about their history and heritage, their enthusiasm for their work and their thoughts on the future of the food industry. From olive oil millers who pour passion into each bottle to farmers honoring the humble heirloom tomato, the interview series lets the experts speak for themselves.

Così Com'è: preserving heirloom tomatoes, from seed to label

For more than 25 years, Fianagricola — a small 24-farm cooperative in the fertile Piana del Sale of Campania — has cultivated local produce varieties with care. The cooperative was founded with one mission: to guarantee a pure, traceable Italian product, from seed to label.

On that land in southern Italy, Così Com'è is born. The name means "as they are," and the tomatoes are sowed with care, pollinated by bees, hand-harvested at their peak and jarred within a few hours. The result is a pure tomato preserve that tastes off-the-vine fresh. Our chefs in Italy spent months testing more than 40 different tomato products from our shelves to create the perfect spaghetto al pomodoro recipe, and Così Com'è was the one they chose.

"It requires care, patience, respect, competence and love to achieve a premium product," Elisa Vecchi of Così Com'è tells Eataly Magazine. "Working with food offers a unique possibility to connect with the land, with the tradition of a territory and with its identity."

Roi: passion and curiosity in olive oil production

For five generations, the Boeri family — historically nicknamed "Roi" — has shared the flavors of the Ligurian coast through olive oil, pesto and more. The story began in 1890, when Giuseppe Boeri first rented a communal olive oil mill in the hills of Liguria to process local Taggiasca olives with a traditional stone press. Today Paolo carries it on alongside his father at the family mill.

The olive trees grow on narrow terraces about 1,150 feet above sea level in the Valle Argentina, just inland of Sanremo on the Ligurian Sea. The climate is mild, and the trees are surrounded by Mediterranean shrubs, chestnut trees and wild herbs. The terrain is steep and difficult, and everything is still cultivated and hand-harvested by the team at Roi.

"I chose to do this job out of passion and I continue like this every day," Paolo Boeri Roi tells Eataly Magazine. "I think the food industry is the best market to work in, if not the best — certainly the most enjoyable. Having the opportunity to travel, meet people and taste dishes and products every day of your life makes it beautiful, full and always interesting."

Wulf's: nurturing connections, from water to plate

Based in Massachusetts, Wulf's works with artisanal fishermen and farmers who share its passion for premium, traceable seafood and its commitment to sustainability and the health of the oceans. The team has built trusted relationships with fishermen, divers and experts across the globe who care as much as it does about quality and transparency. The legacy of founder Sam Wulf continues two generations later, from the way the company sources its fish to how it cuts and delivers it.

"We still cut our fish by hand — not machines," Alisha Lumea of Wulf's tells Eataly Magazine, "because nothing matches the care and quality of old school skills." Good food, Lumea adds, "touches every aspect of our lives: the environment, culture, health, pleasure." She sees it as a way to connect with our fellow humans and to understand and nurture each other.