Free Republic

CORLEONE, Sicily - This is bloodied land, stained by murder and torture during years as the private property of Sicily's most notorious Mafia boss, a man they call "The Beast." Today, however, after years of association with Italy's ugliest products, the Mafia, this turf yields one of its tastiest: pasta. Young farmers have taken confiscated mob land and turned it into fields of grain for pasta — finally harvesting good from towns such as Corleone and showing that Mafia culture can be defied. "Ten years ago, something like this would have been unimaginable, impossible," says the pasta project leader, Gianluca...