Moldova is me // Tamara Șchiopu - entrepreneur building bridges between United Kingdom and Moldova

For Tamara Șchiopu, the road to success passed through Chișinău, California and the United Kingdom. But no matter where life took her, the connection with the Republic of Moldova remained just as strong. Today, she divides her time between the organic farm she runs in the UK together with her husband and the projects she develops back home, in the Republic of Moldova.

Originally from the village of Pitușca, Călărași district, Tamara graduated from Moldova State University, after which she left for the United States of America for a master's degree in business management at the University of California, where she also obtained an MBA.


“I left the Republic of Moldova in 2000. I went to study in the United States of America. After three years of life in the US, I arrived in the United Kingdom, because I married an English farmer. I studied business management at the University of California, I received my MBA and after that I settled in the UK,” Tamara Șchiopu told MOLDPRES in an interview.


In the first years she worked at the University of Oxford, where she coordinated an agency promoting local products. At the same time, she helped her husband at the family’s organic farm. In the end she chose agriculture, a decision she says she has never regretted.


“Over time I realized that he couldn’t manage without me and I started working alongside him. I don’t regret it at all, because it brought me closer to my roots. It helped me better understand what healthy eating means, what it means to serve the consumer and how much an entrepreneur depends on their team. This makes you take care of people, to invest in their development. Even though we work on a small farm, my MBA from the University of California has been extremely useful,” says Tamara.




The family farm produces exclusively organic vegetables, delivered directly to families, and the relationship with consumers is a close one.


“We have an organic farm, we grow only vegetables and sell them directly to families. We have a very close relationship with our clients and with our employees. The book contains many stories written by our team about how they experience the entire agricultural year. It is fascinating,” she says.


Although she has been settled in the United Kingdom for more than two decades, Tamara says she has never detached herself from the Republic of Moldova. Together with her husband, they built a house in Căpriana, and every return to the country means more than just a simple visit.


“My husband is English. We built a house in Moldova, in Căpriana, and we need to come, to stay in our home, to look after it, to see our friends. I can say that half of my life is in Moldova and the other half in the United Kingdom.”




Her returns home are also opportunities for work. Tamara is involved in projects dedicated to local producers and sustainable agriculture.


“Throughout all these years I have maintained mentoring and training activities in Moldova. I have launched several projects, such as Bostaniada. Now we are developing the EcoLocal market, a model brought from the United Kingdom, through which we support small local producers to sell directly to consumers. We don’t just come back to rest and see our relatives, we also return with our work.”




The experience she gained on the farm inspired her to write the book “My Vegan Farm Food”, recently launched in Chișinău as part of Diaspora Days. The book, whose first print run is already sold out, combines vegan recipes with stories about farm life and promotes a healthy and responsible way of eating.


“For me, the gastronomic treasure does not mean so much recipes as the principle of consuming what we have, what our parents consumed, foods with the genetic load suited to the place where we live. I consider it a mistake to believe that healthy eating means products that travel thousands of kilometers and create only the illusion of correct nutrition.”






 


“I started in January and, for 52 weeks, I wrote recipes every week with seasonal vegetables. But the book contains more stories than recipes. In total I worked for almost three years.”






Tamara says that the main message of the book is also one of support for printed books.


“My message is to support printed books. We all know that we risk losing this field to artificial intelligence and digital books. When you have a book with beautiful photographs, with memories and true stories, artificial intelligence can replace it much more difficultly. I would like people to support authors who publish not only in digital format, but also in print, in order to preserve the culture of reading.”




In the pages of the book, Tamara also describes the philosophy that guides her life.


“The deepest love and understanding of what it means to eat well without devouring the planet were born right here on our farm. Everyday cooking with what we had in the kitchen, the weekly box of seasonal vegetables, the annual ‘food gap’ period, the joy of the first ripe tomato, the occasional crop failures and the meals shared with the team taught me everything I needed to know about truly good food.”


During Diaspora Days, Tamara Șchiopu also had a meeting with Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, from which she says she left feeling encouraged.


“I communicated with him three times and he assured me that he would take care of the small entrepreneur.”


Tamara Șchiopu did not want to choose between two countries. She built a bridge between the Republic of Moldova and the United Kingdom and is convinced that the experience gained abroad can become a valuable resource for developing communities back home.