This reference form is being requested on the behalf of an applicant who has applied to the Butcher Apprenticeship Program at the Tenuta di Spannocchia in Tuscany, Italy for a three-month-long session. Spannocchia is a small, close-knit community in a rural environment, 20 kilometers south of the city of Siena. While some travel is possible, participants spend most of their time on the farm with other apprentices, interns, and staff, as well as agriturismo guests (seasonally).

We value your input as we aim to select candidates who will be most likely to thrive in this very special program. Please carefully answer the following questions and feel free to write as much as you’d like. Your responses will be treated confidentially. At the bottom, you may save this form in order to work on it over multiple sessions before submitting.

Please note the following application deadlines (for full session dates, please see the Apprenticeships page):
Group A (Sessions 1, 2, 3): June 20, 2025
Group B (Sessions 4, 5, 6): August 22, 2025
Group C (Sessions 7, 8): November 21, 2025

If you have any issues with the online form, please email Spannocchia's Farm Education Director, Niccolò Merighi, at farmprogram@spannocchia.org.

Thank you!