Slow Food Presidia, there is also Sardinian pork
There are three producers currently involved, but around ninety breeders are interested in the recovery program of the native breed
The Sardinian pig – and therefore a dark coat, small size, short and robust legs and a mane of long bristles on its back – becomes part of the Slow Food presidia. An innovation that rewards Sardinia and wards off the specters of African swine fever.
After long work to eradicate the virus, the embargo on pork exports from Sardinia fell on 15 December 2022, a situation that had persisted for forty years. «Only four municipalities remain in the red zone - recalls the Slow Food representative of the new garrison, Raimondo Mandis - while from the rest of the region it is once again possible to move meat and cured meats outside the island . Recognition as a garrison is a signal, a way to underline the importance of promoting local farming methods and virtuous transformation practices, to prevent the marketing of meat that comes from outside the region and which, in Sardinia, is only transformed, as is still the case today. in some cases it happens. We have an indigenous breed to support and enhance , a symbol of local biodiversity and strongly integrated into the island environment."
A breed that was saved thanks to the work of some breeders supported by the Breeders' Association of the Sardinia region (AARS), which has been maintaining a breed herd book since 1920 and which today also takes care of controls for its continuation. The animal, 60 centimeters at the withers and weighing between 80 and 150 kilos, feeds in particular on acorns: «Thanks to grazing, the so-called controlled semi-wild which provides ample freedom of movement and a double fence to prevent the domestic pigs come into contact with wild boars, the animal moves around a lot and consumes a lot of the nutritional intake - underlines Mandis - The result is meat with significant fat but with optimal nutritional characteristics , with a low percentage of unsaturated fats".
There are currently three producers who join the Slow Food presidium. There are around ninety farmers interested in the recovery program of the Sardinian pig breed.
(Unioneonline/vl)
