Its houses clustered together on a hillside some twenty minutes up from the town of Piazza al Serchio, the sleepy village of Cogna is the ideal place to get away from it all. Its extremely narrow and steep lanes offer breathtaking vistas of neighboring mountains and a couple of other villages across the valley; no great population center comes into view, nor is there in fact any nearby. For its youth, Cogna and surrounding region do not offer much in the way of work outside of the realm of agriculture. Thus many young people leave town for better school and work opportunities, some never to return aside from occasional family visits and festivals.

Mario Borghesi is one of these young Cogna natives who left the village to find work in the industrial Italian North. Recently, however, he has become tired of Milan's noisy, concrete jungle, quite the opposite of the serene, green land he grew up in. He yearns to return to the countryside, if only on a part-time basis, and has come up with a plan that may well help him to do so: he hopes to become an international exporter of farro, as well as other Garfagnana products. Mario believes that their products will become as popular outside Italy as they have become inside the country. While the Tuscan regions of Chianti and the Siena Hills have paved the way for other Tuscan products throughout the world, they have also monopolized national and international attention. "Why should Chianti get all the good press?" Mario asks, "We have as much to offer as they do, if not more. While we may not have their quality wines, our superior produce, meats, cheeses and grains all deserve to be offered on the international market."

Easier said then done, of course. Mario's father, a member of the Corsorzio Garfagnana, has for years been involved in introducing Garfagnana products to kitsch stores and restaurants in Milan and elsewhere in Italy. Both father and son see a great opportunity overseas, particularly for their farro. "No grain compares," recalls Mario, "it has become the hit in cafés all over Milan." Zuppa di Farro (spelt soup), is now a must menu item for many of Milan's best cafés and restaurants. Delicious, nutritious and filling, the Borghesis believe that the grain could be just as well received overseas. Farro has a remarkably light consistency, perfect also for salads and a myriad of other dishes.

The key is finding the right distributors worldwide. And investors… "Living in Milan may have its disadvantages, but at least here one has a chance of connecting with possible investors and distributors." Mario sighs. He knows this will be a long road, but he's in it for the long haul.

The Garfagnana used to be known as 'Swiss Tuscany': after centuries of mountain isolation it has developed many unique, marvelous products. Future exporters like Mario, agriturismi owners and other tourist operators alike, while looking forward to heightened awareness of their land, have no desire to turn the Garfagnana into another 'Chiantishire', overdeveloped and over-invaded by the outside world. "Cogna (and the Garfagnana as a whole) has a certain antique, remote and otherworldly feel to it that I would never want to lose to over- or just plain bad-development. In recent years we have organized a unique town festival in the middle of August, the Festa di Farro. This year we held a rodeo, a farro-cookoff competition, great outdoor dining and live traditional music and dancing. Fun for the whole family, a really wonderful time for us widely scattered Cogna natives to reunite. It was also a chance for the village to proudly 'show off' to the outside world - indeed there were many non-Garfagnana folk present throughout the festival."

Cogna is not alone in its development of town fairs and festivals - it seems that many other Garfagnana towns have followed suit in recent years. Slowly, but surely, the region is opening to the outside world. But it is not likely to lose its particular charm any time soon: many centuries of tenacious isolation and independent spirit have a hard time melting away, and inhabitants seem stalwart in their support of responsible tourism and development.