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Standing up to the Mafia
Libera Terra's pasta is anything but ordinary. This is partly due to the way it is made, but especially to the soils on which the raw materials are grown. These have been confiscated from the Mafia by the state! (Last update: 9.04.2025)
gebana: For us non-Italians, pasta is pasta. Are there really differences?
Libera Terra*: Yes, there are differences! Our pasta is not industrially mass-produced. To preserve the properties of the raw material, the durum wheat semolina is cold-milled at below 40°C and the pasta dough is dried at an average temperature of 68°-70°C. This means that production takes longer, but it is more gentle. In addition, our pasta is extruded through bronze moulds. This ensures that the surface is not smooth. Thanks to this porous surface, spaghetti etc. absorb the sauce – and after all, the sauce is what makes a pasta dish!
Where does the wheat for Libera Terra pasta come from?
The durum wheat for Libera Terra comes from cooperatives that grow crops on land confiscated from the Mafia by the authorities, as well as from farmers in the south who share our principles. A total of nine different cooperatives supply the durum wheat. Five of them are in Sicily and four are in the south of Italy on the mainland.
They all grow a wide range of products in addition to wheat, all of which are organic. If a particular product is not yet certified organic, it is because new, confiscated land is constantly being added. Although the cultivation is organic from the outset, it takes several years of conversion before the products receive certification.
Can you explain how cultivation works on land confiscated from the Mafia?
Libera Terra was founded by the initiative ‘Libera (Freed) Associations, Names and Numbers Against Mafia Organzisations’. In 1995, the initiative promoted a nationwide petition to urge the Italian Parliament to pass a law allowing the reuse of confiscated assets of organised crime through social cooperatives.
More than a million people signed the petition, which ensured that the law was passed. Since then, mafia assets that pass to the state must either be used by social cooperatives or be available to the public.
Based on this law, the first agricultural cooperative was established here in San Guiseppe Jato in Sicily in 2001, which still grows wine, wheat and other products such as tomatoes, lentils, etc. today. Nowadays, the members of each cooperative are selected through a public process and then tasked with managing and cultivating the confiscated properties.
Isn't it dangerous for the producers to work on land confiscated from the Mafia?
It was difficult at the beginning. Many service providers, but also workers, were afraid to work with the first cooperative. In addition, the properties are often in poor condition before a cooperative begins to cultivate them. We had to overcome many obstacles.
Today, the Libera Terra cooperatives are known throughout Italy. They are seen as a concrete and successful example of social entrepreneurship that creates jobs, employs disadvantaged people and promotes the spread of organic and sustainable production processes with the support of local communities. At the same time, the success of Libera Terra products on the market shows that a virtuous economic system can function with a social reuse of the property confiscated from the mafias and a business model based on quality.
Most of your products come from southern Italy. Can climate change be felt there and how do you deal with it?
Global climate change is indeed a challenge for the near future. We are increasingly experiencing unusual seasons, which have a significant impact on the traditional crops of the lands on which we operate. For example, the cultivation of peeled tomatoes for the pelati in Sicily: the fruits are grown using the so-called ‘siccagno’ method, i.e. without irrigation. In recent years, the harvests have been poor, and we are considering moving production to Calabria, where the drought is less severe than in Sicily. In general, we should ask ourselves as soon as possible whether a transition in agriculture is possible, for example by introducing new methods of caring for traditional crops, without excluding the introduction of new crops in the face of progressive climate change.
How does the system of cooperatives work?
There are no traditional family farmers at Libera Terra: the producers are members of the cooperatives. To become a member, candidates must demonstrate their motivation and skills. They must also register and invest. We are looking for committed people, because as a member they become an entrepreneur. In addition to the members, there are also employees – year-round and seasonal.
The members of our cooperatives are basically people who work in the agricultural sector and live in the regions in which the cooperatives operate. As a cooperative company, we combine traditional roots with a future-oriented professionalisation, which means that we invest specifically in the further training of our members, strengthen their skills and promote the acquisition of new competencies. They work according to strict guidelines and conclude long-term contracts with guaranteed minimum prices – this is how we ensure that their organic raw materials are valued, regardless of market fluctuations.
And who are these 30 % disadvantaged employees?
As a type B social cooperative, we are legally obliged to employ at least 30% disadvantaged workers. These include people with physical, mental or psychological disabilities, former addicts or people released from prison. We don't know their exact background, but we base our decisions on their legal recognition. All our employees are treated equally.
What about migrants?
Even though we see migrants as a disadvantaged group, we cannot hire them because they are not officially recognised as such by the state. We don't need special treatment or heroic stories. Our focus is on good work, fair wages and high-quality products – not on political activism.
Libera Terra Pasta is dedicated to all citizens who, with unconditional love and strenuous devotion, prove that the democratic, peaceful, welcoming, cultural and artistic Italy is stronger than the decay caused by the mafia, corruption and dishonesty.
*Libera Terra sees itself as a community and would like to present itself as such to the outside world. The names and faces of cooperative members should therefore not be mentioned or shown.