FAM, the project that arises to bring urbanites closer to the countryside
Valencia can boast of being many things. It is gastronomy, design, sustainability, coast, gunpowder, orange blossom…and it is also GARDEN . An orchard that overlooks the sea, but also the city and in recent years there have been numerous projects that have worked hard to put this element of the Valencian imaginary on the map.
Among all of them, today we have to talk about a very special one: FAM . Three of the members of a family where father (Edu), mother (Rosa) and daughter (Ana), have decided to join forces to offer urbanites their vision of agriculture in the Valencian orchard.
FAM are: Edu (father), Rosa (mother) and Ana (daughter)
In short, we are facing an initiative that translates into: “A project of basic principles. An outreach work on agriculture for people who, although they are not interested in the garden, end up being. We cannot turn our backs on this exclusive territory that allows us to have a pantry full of daily km0 products ”, tells Traveler.es Ana Climent, daughter and head of FAM.
As a significant fact, it should be emphasized that we are facing one of the six arable peri-urban orchards that still remain in Europe . Projects like this do nothing but help continue a legacy that has centuries of history behind it.
THE ORIGIN OF FAM
Like most good ideas, this project was born by chance and -of course-, through an after-meal conversation. “ FAM arises after a meal with my parents . As we talked, we realized how the monotony of a family Sunday can be broken when we start talking about what we like the most: garden and gastronomy. Suddenly I threw the question of, ' Why don't we open an Instagram account where we can show what we have at home? ’. My parents, oblivious to this social network, had no choice but to let themselves go”, recalls Ana Climent.
FAM, the project that arises to bring urbanites closer to the countryside
Almost four years later ( the first photo was published in October 2017 ), 171 posts and over 2,800 followers at the time of this writing, FAM does nothing more than demonstrate that it is one of the projects worth betting on, learning about and disseminating.
But before delving fully into it, it's time to meet the people who have made it possible. They have managed to combine the countryside, cuisine and design in a single Instagram account that over time has crossed the Internet barrier to materialize in real actions.
Edu has been a farmer since he started working. In the words of Ana Climent: “ he resists taking his feet off the ground and dedicates his free time to small-scale polyculture, for home and friends . In FAM, part-time farmer. For all practical purposes, he represents the right column in the Instagram timeline: he shows us the product in its natural habitat”.
Ana works in a creative studio carrying out brand communication. “At FAM, I am creative concept, photography and writing. She represented the central column of Instagram: a thought-provoking interpretation of the product. An impasse between the field and the kitchen ”, she comments.
Calçot in the Valencian horta
Rosa has dedicated herself professionally to the kitchen for more than 15 years, working as a cook until the product that she received did not comply with her food ethics and she decided to leave it. Since then, cooking has become her main hobby. At FAM, she is quality control and cooking. She is the left column on Instagram: she shows us how the kitchen transforms the product.
As can be seen as soon as the user enters their profile of the social network par excellence, each one of the columns of the feed deals with the same product from three different points of view ( one form for each person and according to their specialty).
Your main goal? In Ana's own words it is “ show the garden in a creative key to continue gaining followers who value the territory and protect it, cultivating it or consuming it”.
“FAM was born with no more pretensions than to bring urbanites closer to the relationship between the vegetable garden of Valencia and gastronomy. We are surprised by the lack of knowledge that exists about agriculture in the most urban environment and how this affects our diet. Many people don't know that peanuts, before they see them on the plate, are underground. We cannot afford these lapses. The garden is gastronomy, and gastronomy is culture ”, says the young Valencian.
The chosen name -of course- had to be in Valencian, and it is called that because of the roots and culture linked to the territory. When translated into Spanish, it comes to us in the form of the word 'hunger', bringing us closer to the table by the act of satisfying hunger, of eating. “ Others, later, asked us if it came from 'family', well... it could also be ”, adds Ana Climent.
FAM is a family project that goes about the land, the origin, and the Valencian countryside
WHEN GASTRONOMY, COUNTRYSIDE AND DESIGN CONVERGE TO PERFECTION
Now that Valencia can boast of being World Design Capital in 2022 It is time to understand that this does not only lie in plans or in the architecture of buildings, but that everything is DESIGN. And the Valencian orchard was not going to be less.
“Design is part of the countryside and gastronomy. The course has a lot of functional design. There are the plantation frames, with the distance measurement marked between the plants to the centimeter, according to their variety. There are the ridges, perfectly straight and aligned. The landscape of l'horta is pure design", says Ana Climent.
“In gastronomy, if we go to haute cuisine, the entire experience you have is designed. From your entry into the restaurant to the last bite there is design. Design is very present in both areas . And the point where the countryside and gastronomy intersect is clear. In the product ”, she adds.
“València is a very effervescent space, with projects that emerge all the time and that, however, never reached that position of capital. It has always been in the background still having an entrepreneurial and design character very present . I think now we have the opportunity to show off because we have a history that supports us ”, she sentences.
#DINARFAM
FAM's main activity takes place on its Instagram profile, always trying to publish seasonally the ingredients they find in the garden so that their followers are encouraged to grow them or simply to serve as an orientation guide when buying at local businesses.
But there came a time when the mobile screen gave way to real life and a new activity was added: #DinarFAM. “By popular request, in those times #freecovid, fans wrote to us to ask if they could visit the field and meet us . We decided to organize a meal in our Quilis field where we could transmit our knowledge about the garden, taste local products and in addition to having a magnificent after-meal session where up to 60 people met. A year later the second #dinarFAM arrived and later we found ourselves in the Covid era ”, comments Ana Climent.
Your way of organizing? Proposing food as something collaborative where each person provided a recipe around the 'picaeta' and dessert, the Climent family taking care of the main dish that -of course- it was traditional paella or vegetables . in the second edition they added a tour of the field to learn more about its characteristics.
And the third edition? They are already working on it! And they promise to bring the occasional surprise… “We will repeat the format, that's for sure, with some extra ingredients. We want to make cultural immersion even stronger. Maybe put all the guests to work in the fields. The food of the #dinarFAM will depend on your work ”, says Ana excitedly.
EVERYTHING THAT IS TO COME
From FAM they have many actions on the table that at the moment they cannot reveal much, but all are related to the experience and the product around the Valencian orchard. “ We want FAM to take the next step and be more palpable , not just a distance informative project, through Instagram. It must be that social distancing has us a little fed up and we have that need to touch, to be close ”, comments the young Valencian.
To the question of why one should not miss this wonderful work, it is Ana herself who clears up our doubts: “ Because it is part of their identity, if we talk about Valencians . And if it is not, because by following FAM, one can rest assured that she will not ask the trusted greengrocer for artichokes in August”.
We better keep track of them very closely because this promises, and a lot!