Inside the social cooperative, near Reggio Emilia, 27 disabled workers produce, among others, biological aromatic plants. The secret? Combine entrepreneurial spirit and technological innovation
REGGIO EMILIA – If Cristian ask what he likes
most of his work, he says “make the boxes”, which will then pinned
packages of basil. A Macho rather not like to do anything, but then returns
its occupation without fuss. And if Chiara can not wait to go
pause, Francesca is quieter than usual because it must “remain
He focused “on his trays of sage.” We have very large orders and not
there is time to get bored, “says Cristina. While Raffaele spends all his time
to attack the labels in cellophane cones where they will be inserted
pots of rosemary, but “for me it is hard”, is keen to stress. Stories
of ordinary daily life inside the greenhouses and sheds for
integrated cultivation of aromatic plants (70% will be packaged) and
flower plants produced by the social cooperative Il Bettolino Reggiolo, in
the province of Reggio Emilia. As it is said in the
Supplement of July Expo Milano 2015 SuperAbile Inail, the magazine for
disability published by Inail, is a reality that, under its own brand “Friends
in the field “or to clients as” Ortoromi “, it sells mainly to
supermarkets: Coop (North-east, North-west and the Adriatic; its planting
“ViviVerde”), Conad Centre-North, Realco (ie supermarkets Sigma), Cir
Food. Founded in 1989 by the will of the Cooperativa Muratori, and soon
turned into activities of employment of people with disabilities
psychic or mental retardation, today the coop The Bettolino counts 50 employees,
including 27 people at a disadvantage. A plus a mix of educators and workers,
plus another fifty young people in practical training or internship, activated
thanks to individual projects and agreements with the local health and social services of
area.
And territoriality is the basis of the catchment area
the cooperative, which involves the eight municipalities of the Lower
Reggiana: Boretto, Brescello, Gualtieri, Guastalla, Luzzara, Novellara,
Poviglio and Reggiolo. So in the morning “to go get our workers
riaccompagnarli special and at home, finished their turn, there are three buses
that ply between the campaigns, “says the president Francesca Benelli.
It is not easy, however, find the cooperative: although all those who live
in the area know, we miss the signs because “we have an ongoing
Public debate about where to place the sign “, extends his arms to
President of Bettolino, whose name derives from the hamlet of Reggiolo where he
based social cooperative. But as you enter the scent of basil – which is here
the flagship product – and the smell of the floor, they quickly feel.
So, overcome the administrative offices, that’s a cloud
of caps, T-shirts and blue aprons looks at somewhere between curiosity and
the skeptic. Some people run now to ask “what’s your name?” or “why are you
here? “and maybe he hugs you, who starts to talk and would not stop more
and who, instead, do not worthy of a word. But rightly so: after all are
working and not everyone wants to be disturbed. Especially when
must weigh the herbs, place them in plastic trays that
then he should be placed on the roller intended to carry them into the machine for packaging
and labeling. At the end of this small “assembly”, the
trays end up on a revolving plate ready to be fitted in
boxes and shipped to the customer. In the land of Don Camillo and Peppone, fruit
the fantasy of Guareschi, the tradition of cooperation
Emilia is strong. The Bettolino, in fact, is a social reality and great sound:
from 2011 it was converted to organic farming and has 13 thousand meters
square of greenhouses for the production of pot plants and herbs
He severed. Some of these greenhouses are heated thanks to the biogas produced by
decomposition of municipal waste, thus using energy sources
Alternatively. The Bettolino is part of Legacoop Reggio Emilia and the Consortium
Forty social cooperatives, produces about 80 thousand kilograms of
basil cut year (grown with hydroponic method, ie plateaux
polystyrene immersed in water containers), over a million cells of
herbs packaged, 300 thousand pots of basil and Certified Organic
many pots of sage, mint, thyme, marjoram, parsley and grass
chive. In 2014 he
made three million euro turnover and participated in Terra Madre,
International exhibition of taste organized by Slow Food in Turin.
For five years, then, the cooperative has launched a
partnership with a company to produce Ligurian pesto sauce brand
“Friends in the field” and, thanks to integrated techniques for growing
plants (that is, which limit the use of chemicals), poses
particular attention to the surrounding environment, the workplace and the
health of its employees. Round up the pack of cutlery
plastic and kits of seasoning. “Our biggest challenge, to which we
focused from the beginning, is to stay on the market as they all
other companies: only 10% of our business has an agreement with the entities
local, “says Benelli. These are mainly environmental services ranging
the maintenance of green cleaning cemeteries, from the collection of
hospital waste at the curbside bulky waste, up to
management of some ecological islands nearby. “We try to bring out the
social value of our work, but without detracting from the quality and
competitiveness of our products and services – continues the president -. Not
we want our herbs are bought because they are fruit
effort of disabled children, but because they are good. ”
The same goes for the beauty of flowering plants:
winter poinsettias and cyclamens, especially in spring primroses, violets
and roses, geraniums and summer, this year, even sunflowers.
Another recent innovation is to have transformed into cooperative
mixed type, which is able to offer not only professional but entries
also socio-therapeutic rehabilitation. “It is a request that we
It arrived by municipalities, especially in light of the new regional law which abolished
bags, “explains Barbara Leoni, head of the social sector.
So from 2013 to Bettolino workers – hired or trainees – has
possibility also to practice physical education and follow laboratories
artistic expression, as well as cooking classes or photography. And it does
through the rotation of small groups, either because the production must not
however, never stop, and because the relationship between educator and disabled person
It must always be of one to six / seven. “But not everyone has taken this well
change: for some it was an extra motivation, while for others it is
It was a bit ‘demeaning, especially for those who like to work and are
proud to do it. For this we have maintained high activity ergoterapica,
that is all that is real jobs, “says the representative of the
social. A typical day of Bettolino, in fact, is marked by two rounds:
four hours of work in the morning (from eight to noon, with a break of a
fifteen minutes), for those who remain is also eating lunch together in the
nearby restaurant (in agreement with the cooperative) and 14 each
He resumes his task to finish at 17. Not everyone, however, work in
Full-time: there are those who do only half a day, choosing the morning shift
or afternoon according to different needs. Ultimately, it is as if the Bettolino
was a large group of friends: “We celebrate all the birthdays, the
Sunday is often go on outings together and in the evening at the pub or pizzeria – tells
Leoni -. Many do not have a family behind, especially adults, and
They live in apartments or other protected structures. But sometimes there are
some resistors even when the parents are present, especially when
consider “weird character” the disability of their children. “Strange to
thought of, because after all it comes to social dignity, autonomy
individual and economic independence to people. For those wishing to visit
this fact, each year the cooperative organizes – behind the Day
for Persons with Disabilities set at December 3 -
the initiative “Open Doors to Bettolino”. (Michela Trigari)
(6 August 2015)
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