A thread of oil as a thread of hope, redemption and rebirth! This is the heart of the project “Traveling on a thread of oil”, born from the collaboration between the “Pasquale Di Lorenzo” prison in Agrigento e Val Paradiso, a reality of excellence in Sicilian olive growing. An initiative that intertwines territory, training and social reintegration, offering prisoners a concrete opportunity for personal and professional growth, starting from the earth.
Next Monday, at 10 am, the official presentation of theextra virgin olive oil “La Rupe”, fruit of the olives grown within the facility's agricultural estate, hand-picked by the inmates and processed in the Val Paradiso company's mill which uses a modern Pieralisi system.
The event will see the participation, among others, of the director of the prison Anna Puci and the owners of Val Paradiso Massimo and Desiderio Carlino.
It will be an opportunity to talk about the results achieved, reflect on the impact of the project and announce the new features planned for the next edition. In fact, for 2025, the initiative will be enriched with an advanced training module, aimed at providing inmates with knowledge of the entire olive oil supply chain: from harvesting to processing, up to label design and product promotion on digital and social channels. A complete path, which combines agricultural work with skills in creative and commercial fields.
The morning will end with a guided tasting of “La Rupe” oil, accompanied by a taste of bread and oil, to symbolize the simplicity and strength of a profoundly human project.
Launched in Fall 2024, “Traveling on a thread of oil” has represented a virtuous example of social agriculture, transforming an olive grove in an opportunity for redemption and training. Thanks to the vision of director Anna Puci and the availability of Val Paradiso, the inmates were able to experience the hard work, the value of collaboration and the beauty of caring. The bottles produced, not intended for sale but donated to charity to the institutions, convey a powerful message: even behind the walls of a prison something precious can be born, capable of telling of commitment, altruism and the desire for redemption.
As Massimo Carlino, representative of Val Paradiso, points out: “We enthusiastically joined this initiative, taking care of every phase of the production process: milling, extraction, analysis, storage and packaging. Our goal was to offer prisoners a different view of their present. Contact with the land, in a context of deprivation, can become a lesson in freedom. And agriculture is the best teacher”.
A thread of oil that unites hands, stories and hopes.
