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L’Arcolaio – Dolci Evasioni
Orchestra Barocca Siciliana
March 25, 2021
L’Arcolaio – Frutti degli Iblei
March 26, 2021All photos © L'Arcolaio
Dolci evasioni - sweet evasions
When goodness comes from prison
In the area of Siracusa, the social cooperative L’Arcolaio - the spinning wheel - is a symbol of solidarity and inclusion, respect and openness, appreciation and acceptance. Its stories tell us of relationships and networks capable of generating growth, wealth and redemption. The ability to combine innovation and tradition, attention towards the individual with the involvement of the community. It’s the success of a business which is built on the growth of people and not on profit.
The Cooperative was founded in 2003 “inside” the prison of Siracusa with the aim of building social and work integration paths for prisoners, by guiding them to make traditional Sicilian products, using organic, local raw ingredients and fair trade. At the time, the project was groundbreaking. The goal was to support a group of disadvantaged people, while promoting a general and wider commitment to the area and the environment, by respecting and highlighting our country and its traditions, which would in turn bring wide-spread well being and growth. Together with a notion of solidarity practiced on a universal level came the idea of sustainability applied on a systematic and holistic level.
This pioneering outlook has turned the wheel of L’Arcolaio and its Dolci Evasioni brand products quite a long way. The intuition that the new market of reference was going to be that of food that respects the environment and health, that the interlocutor must be an informed and aware consumer, that the social and solidarity enterprise represents a winning model in a now obsolete, exhausted and destructive capitalist system ... All these principles that have guided the choices and the modus operandi of this small cooperative from Siracusa have allowed Dolci Evasioni to become familiar to an ever-growing audience.
Soft macaroons, candied fruit covered with chocolate, roasted almonds, carob syrup and many other products made in the Cavadonna prison laboratory are increasingly in demand in shops and workshops which specialise in quality products, in ethical trade, in the organic sector, requested by various buying groups, or by individual families who want to do good while eating well.
In addition, thanks to this extraordinary enterprise, dozens of prisoners have been supported and, because of their work, they have been able to feel part of society again, to “escape”, and picture a future for themselves made of legality, dignity and redemption.
Febbraio 2021
