“We reiterate that the only way to simultaneously protect the pastoral economy of Abruzzo and the needs of the consumer is to recognize the protected designation of origin of the arrosticino. There is a lot of confusion surrounding this excellence of regional production, which needs to be clarified. We firmly reiterate that the PDO is the only community brand that would guarantee the use of truly Abruzzo meat with results and advantages for the entire livestock sector and the final consumer who must be able to choose to eat a product made with real Abruzzo meat and not simply slaughtered or packaged in Abruzzo”. Regarding the controversy over the arrosticino – and the need to favor PDO over PGI – Coldiretti Abruzzo confirms its position. And he reiterates that “this is an ethical battle, a battle on transparency that focuses on the importance of the origin of the foods that have made our agri-food tradition great”.
Together with Coldiretti, a partnership made up of the Regional Breeders’ Association which has drawn up a report listing the advantages linked to the Protected Designation of Origin, the Experimental Zooprophylactic Institute and Spiedì srl, industry leader in the sector.
In the Ara report, the castle of “disadvantages” listed by those opposed to the PDO is dismantled and the specifications of the denomination are summarized which will entail in particular:
- the delimitation of the geographical breeding area coinciding with the regional territory and the areas of central Italy historically linked to pastoralism and transhumance;
- the delimitation of the geographical area of transformation and processing of meat and the production of kebabs coinciding with the regional territory;
- the achievement of high quality parameters due to the characteristics of the raw material used and the limitations adopted during the processing phase;
- the use of only sheep meat, and the absence of different ingredients, respecting the tradition handed down to us by our shepherds.
“Currently – says Pietropaolo Martinelli, breeder and president of Coldiretti Abruzzo – the symbolic product of our sheep farming is based on the massive importation of foreign sheep meat, which is easier to find and process, with the disconcerting result that more than three out of four skewers come from foreign, especially France, Spain, Ireland, Germany and Eastern Europe. We do not exclude the possibility of a PGI, but it must not be the alternative to the PDO, the only brand that would guarantee the use of Abruzzo and Italian meat. It is a question of transparency, the consumer must be able to choose and the farmers must be enabled to continue a tradition loved and appreciated throughout the world and to produce real kebabs, not simple skewers. We regret that Confagricoltura – in addition to forgetting that Coldiretti and Ara were the first to safeguard the sector with the request for a measure that compensated for a punitive CAP towards the sheep and goat sector – has sided in favor of the PGI, presenting it as the panacea of all evils. The reality is very different and it doesn’t take an expert to understand that the possible setting aside of the PDO recognition will be the final blow for the few remaining farmers who have to deal with a profound crisis and a drastic decrease in revenues also due to unfair competition”.
