I absolutely don't understand what benefit this would be. Seems soooo time consuming and tedious. I assume there is a simple kitchen hand crank or electric machine that would do this as well if not better. Is it just the romance of it all, as i do get that?

Yes, that is Artisan digging.

The machines do exist, but having watched a video of the home version it didn't look any faster than an Italian with 40 years of practice There are larger industrial versions that are much faster, of course.

Taking into account the time to set up and clean the machine vs setting up and cleaning a knife and a chopping board, I don't think it would take that much practice to be quicker to not use the machine (and it's one less kitchen gadget).

Yes, that machine is much slower than i'd imagine one would be.

I've been to Bari and this is not Shells, it is Orecchiette (the plural form of orecchietta, from orecchio (ear) + etto (small) is a variety of home-made pasta typical of Apulia, a region of southern Italy. Its name comes from its shape, which resembles a small ear.

I bet you don't even know what farm to table means!

I think not everyone works for the same reasons. She may just like to work for joy. I know a few people who cannot exist without such structure and ritual in their lives.

For what the point is otherwise, I think the shape of the pasta changes the texture and, I suppose, flavor. Hypothetically.

ha. it was just a throw away reference to South Park but the term is often used to express sustainable living and quality food by interacting directly with producers rather than factory produced→ supermarket. In this case part of the charm of hand made orriccete is the slight imperfections, but as you say machine pasta doesn't taste any different. I make my own rolled pasta but happy to buy extruded variety as it's just not practical/worth it to do at home.