Vincent and Laura gave up city life in 2022 to build a farm from the ground up in Saint-Hilaire-de-Lusignan, in France's Lot-et-Garonne department, where they now raise Gascon black pigs outdoors and sell their meat directly to customers.
Neither Vincent, who is from the Paris region, nor Laura, who is from Bordeaux, seemed destined for farming. The two met while studying in Montpellier, where Vincent earned a technical diploma specializing in large-scale crop farming, focused on corn, and Laura trained as a food industry engineer.
After a first job on a large farm in the Paris region, Vincent quickly felt the need for a change. The couple wanted more space, more freedom and a different quality of life.
Vincent said the cost of living and frantic pace in the Paris region eventually became suffocating, with the couple spending heavily for a stressful daily life. He said they had a vital need for wide open spaces and a real quality of life.
Choosing Lot-et-Garonne
A combination of opportunities led the couple to Lot-et-Garonne. Land prices there, far more affordable than in the Paris region, played a major role in the decision, and the couple found a region where their project could genuinely take root.
Laura said that compared with real estate and farmland prices in the Paris region, the difference was enormous, and that in Lot-et-Garonne they were able to buy their own land and invest without crushing themselves financially.
Far from the large-scale farms of the Beauce region, the couple also found a farming community on a human scale. Vincent said that leaving behind concrete and urban pressure let them rediscover simple values, and that in Lot-et-Garonne they were welcomed with open arms and real solidarity among farmers.
A farm built by hand
Changing their lives did not mean choosing the easy path. The farm, founded in 2022, represents a major investment. It took a year and a half of self-построенный construction before the couple could take in their first piglets, then another year of raising the animals before they could sell any meat.
Laura said working so hard for their own farm and their own freedom was priceless, and that every hour spent building the operation had meaning, far from the routine of commuting, working and sleeping.
The farm, called Maison Priotti, today covers 16 hectares, seven of which are fenced for the animals. The pigs roam between pastures and oak forests. The couple has deliberately kept the operation small, producing between 60 and 80 pigs a year.
Nearly everything is done on site. Vincent and Laura built their own processing lab, a cutting workshop, a kitchen and a canning facility. Their cured meats and preserves are made without added nitrites or preservatives, with the goal of controlling every step from raising the animals to the finished product.
Selling direct to customers
The couple has also made direct, short-supply-chain sales a pillar of their business. Maison Priotti products are sold in the farm's own shop, in several regional producer stores and online.
It is a way of staying in touch with customers and telling, through each product, a different way of working.
That commitment to sharing now goes further. Once a month, Vincent and Laura host a farm dinner built around Gascon black pork, featuring a local aperitif, a buffet of starters, pork slow-cooked on a spit over a wood fire, a side dish, coffee and homemade sweets.
The next dinner is set for Tuesday, August 18, starting at 7:30 p.m. The price is 28 euros per person and 12 euros for children under 12, not including drinks. Reservations are required and spots are limited.
Four years after starting their venture, Vincent and Laura say they have no regrets. Vincent said they do not regret for a single moment leaving the Paris region, and that living outdoors, producing healthy food and sharing these moments with local people is exactly the better life they were looking for.
Maison Priotti is located at 160 chemin de Montillet, in Saint-Hilaire-de-Lusignan.
