The countryside stands as the middle kingdom between city and virgin beauty, the jungle, the mountain, the desert or the sea. It is here in this middle kingdom that we human beings have, throughout history, conjured up the richest and most complex cultures based on agriculture. Agriculture is man's invention devised to live in harmony with nature, to harness it and turn it into our ally. The countryside is also where this encounter between the resilient hand of man and the animals, the earth, the seeds, water and sun is expressed each day. This encounter gives rise to a vast array of fruits, corn and wheat, mangos, bananas, acorns, cheese and wine, honey and lettuces.