Our story began on the green fields of Abruzzo where my grandfather Francesco DiGenova raised animals for his family and for other families in the town. He passed his teaching to my father, Nevio, who immigrated to Canada in 1954. My father opened up our first family butcher shop in Toronto, located at Bloor and Manning and then a second at Oakwood and Rogers. In keeping with tradition I followed the same path, learning about the importance of farming, and the art of being a butcher. In 2002, my wife Mirella and I opened Butcher by Nature, a butcher shop offering traditionally raised meat, with no hormones or antibiotics, high quality prepared foods and our signature marinated flat chickens that quickly became popular and are still a favourite today.