On a bike ride from our hotel, Don Totu in San Cassiano, towards Castro and along the coastline, the countryside looked “sad”. Tobi’s words. He’s never described the scenery as “sad” before but in this case, it was a very apt description of the olive trees we saw. The gnarled trunks rooted in cracked clay and parched grass, always two or three twining around one another, looked just like you’d expect.

The knotted branches devoid of foliage except for small tufts of silvery, shrivelled leaves however did not. These trees’ struggle with xylella fastidiosa was palpable as was their imminent decay. Xylella starves the trees of water from the inside and sweeps across the country like a giant wave of treacherous drought on its relentless advance north. In its wake withered trees stand together with abandoned houses in various stages of construction and decay. Considered one of the deadliest plant bacteria in the world, possibly accidentally introduced from Central America, xylella has been likened to the plague.

Besides bikes, which very few locals use, Don Totu has two Vespa scooters for guests’ use. One of the most popular means of transportation in Italy, they’re also undoubtedly the most suitable for a road trip along the coastline. On the way, we stopped at an organic olive oil farm near Specchia, a family-run producer with one olive press. After the owner explained the process, she sat us down for a tasting of two varieties. A third was almost out of stock. The lethal pathogen had wreaked havoc also in their groves.

The oil was tangy and fruity and while we sipped the vicious, golden liquid from plastic cups, we learned more about the plight that was threatening the livelihood of her family and the economy of Italy – the world’s second-largest producer of olive oil after Spain – as a whole.

There’s no cure yet for xylella and the incubation period of up to a year makes it difficult to tell infected from healthy trees. Still, our host swore by traditional practices and vigorously opposed European emergency control measures that have been in place since 2015 – that calls for mainly the culling of trees, some centuries old, that may or may not be infected. She however called this a fabrication of the government and agricultural multinationals.

As the vector of the bacterium is an insect, the spittlebug, the challenge for organic farms like hers, working without pesticides and herbicides, was even greater. Her face showed no anger when she blamed her government and the likes of Monsanto for a plot against small farmers to implement modern farming practices that produce a higher yield. Her point of view didn’t sound far-fetched: Government support was apparently only made available to those who culled trees and bought modern varieties as replacement crop to be replanted regularly and used fertilizer from certain agricultural companies.

“Unfortunately, there are only a few who think like us.” Yet she would stand her ground when others were taking the money, even if the family business was already hurting. I felt great sympathy for her predicament, yet at the same time wondered whether by ignoring emergency measures, she wasn’t also aggravating the problem. Despite its desperate plight, the olive is bravely defending its indispensability in Italian cuisine. Italian friends of ours had promised we’d find the best food of Italy in Puglia – pure and true nonna-style (grandma-style) food. They weren’t exaggerating!

If food were your only reason for visiting Puglia, it’d be reason enough even if it was just for olives and olive oil. With the coast in easy reach in all of Puglia, seafood is also staple food and apparently amazing. Being vegetarian, I always had to point out that my definition of vegetarian also includes excluding fish and seafood, which did earn me some disbelieving stares. My favourite was pasta orechiette, small ear-shaped pasta made of durum wheat, which you’ll likely think is seriously undercooked but still delicious. Also, the local pastry – pasticciotti – and gelato are purportedly the best you’ll ever find.