{"id":150181,"date":"2025-07-11T08:44:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T06:44:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/?p=150181"},"modified":"2025-09-10T10:20:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T08:20:30","slug":"excellences-but-what-kind-of-excellences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/2025\/07\/11\/excellences-but-what-kind-of-excellences\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian Excellences! But what kind of excellences?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">It has been more then eight months since I sent an email to the <em>Consorzio del Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP<\/em><sup data-fn=\"59b73edc-01f1-4990-9d6c-6572792f6790\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#59b73edc-01f1-4990-9d6c-6572792f6790\" id=\"59b73edc-01f1-4990-9d6c-6572792f6790-link\">1<\/a><\/sup>, without receiving any reply. However, my request was very simple. <mark style=\"background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)\" class=\"has-inline-color has-secondary-2-color\">&#8220;What is the origin of the raw material transformed, in percentage terms, from the three regions authorized by the regulations, which are Marche, Emilia-Romagna, and Lombardia?&#8221;<\/mark><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Consorzio aims to \u201cprotect and safeguard the characteristics and authenticity of the <strong>Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP<\/strong><sup data-fn=\"18f2aa14-08db-4eaa-8571-4bf3598edc10\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#18f2aa14-08db-4eaa-8571-4bf3598edc10\" id=\"18f2aa14-08db-4eaa-8571-4bf3598edc10-link\">2<\/a><\/sup>, preserving the centuries-old tradition of a unique product\u201d, as explained in their website presentation. However, while it is true that \u201cthe history of Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP originated within the <strong>Natural Park of Sasso Simone and Simoncello<\/strong>, amid the green hills of <strong>Montefeltro<\/strong>\u201d, it is also true that very few pigs are raised in the entire <strong>Marche<\/strong> region. In 2024, for instance, when the production of <strong>DOP Prosciutto<\/strong> reached 888 tons, just over 25 thousand pigs were slaughtered throughout the region (25,892, to be precise), a mere 0.26% of the almost ten million pigs slaughtered in Italy (9,970,778) according to data from the <em>Sistema Informativo Veterinario<\/em> (<em>Veterinary Information System <\/em>, the Italian national database that monitors livestock and animal health). <strong>Emilia-Romagna<\/strong> and <strong>Lombardia<\/strong>, the other two regions allowed by the regulations, together slaughter close to 7 million pigs, constituting 70% of the national production.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After writing the email, I also had a phone conversation with the press office, but to no avail. Another question remained unanswered: &#8220;What is the evolution in the production of Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP, according to the data from the Consorzio?&#8221; The hypothesis behind these inquiries is, of course, that if the brand is growing (as seemingly confirmed by the press releases of the Consorzio, citing an increase of more than 30% in 2022 compared to 2021 and a slightly lower increase in 2024 compared to 2023), it is likely that the hams transformed in Carpegna are coming from intensive pig farming in the <strong>Pianura Padana<\/strong><sup data-fn=\"a7ff2115-c289-4ac8-bcef-1de65e79c9be\" class=\"fn\"><a href=\"#a7ff2115-c289-4ac8-bcef-1de65e79c9be\" id=\"a7ff2115-c289-4ac8-bcef-1de65e79c9be-link\">3<\/a><\/sup>.<\/p>\n\n\n\t\t<div class=\"paywall-block alignfull\">\r\n\t\t\t<div class=\"surface-container-grayscale-low padding-row-xl padding-col-m\">\r\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"main-column\" id=\"customer_login\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"body-big-condensed margin-bottom-s\">Want to keep reading this article?<br>Log in or subscribe.<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"flex can-wrap\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fill col-1-of-2 padding-l surface-object-grayscale-inverse\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<form class=\"woocommerce-form flex column space woocommerce-form-login login\" method=\"post\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button-condensed margin-bottom-s\">Login<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"woocommerce-form-row woocommerce-form-row--wide form-row form-row-wide\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<label for=\"username\">Username or email address&nbsp;<span class=\"required\" aria-hidden=\"true\">*<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Required<\/span><\/label>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" class=\"woocommerce-Input woocommerce-Input--text input-text\" placeholder=\"username\" name=\"username\" id=\"username\" autocomplete=\"username\" value=\"\" required aria-required=\"true\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"woocommerce-form-row woocommerce-form-row--wide form-row form-row-wide\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<label for=\"password\">Password&nbsp;<span class=\"required\" aria-hidden=\"true\">*<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Required<\/span><\/label>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"woocommerce-Input woocommerce-Input--text input-text\" type=\"password\" placeholder=\"password\" name=\"password\" id=\"password\" autocomplete=\"current-password\" required aria-required=\"true\" \/>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"woocommerce-LostPassword lost_password margin-bottom-s\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a class=\"label-small-sans margin-top-s text-on-grayscale-opacity-high\" href=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/my-account\/lost-password\/\">Lost your password?<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect\" value=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/2025\/07\/11\/excellences-but-what-kind-of-excellences\/\" \/>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"form-row\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<label class=\"woocommerce-form__label woocommerce-form__label-for-checkbox woocommerce-form-login__rememberme\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input class=\"woocommerce-form__input woocommerce-form__input-checkbox\" name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> <span class=\"label-small-sans\">Remember me<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/label>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"hidden\" id=\"woocommerce-login-nonce\" name=\"woocommerce-login-nonce\" value=\"c7c339e237\" \/><input type=\"hidden\" name=\"_wp_http_referer\" value=\"\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150181\" \/>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button type=\"submit\" class=\"woocommerce-button button medium dim woocommerce-form-login__submit\" name=\"login\" value=\"Log in\"><span class=\"label\">Log in<\/span><\/button>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/form>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"fill flex column gap-s space col-1-of-2 surface-container-grayscale-inverse text-on-grayscale-inverse padding-l\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"flex column gap-s\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"button-condensed\">Subscribe to Cook_inc.<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"body-small-sans\">With a subscription, you\u2019ll get full access to Cook_inc. \u2014 from in-depth stories to exclusive content. Join the fam!<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/subscriptions\/\" title=\"Find out more\" class=\"self-start button medium bright\"><span class=\"label\">Find out more<\/span><\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t\t<\/div>\r\n\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It has been more then eight months since I sent an email to the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP, without receiving any reply. However, my request was very simple. &#8220;What is the origin of the raw material transformed, in percentage terms, from the three regions authorized by the regulations, which are Marche, Emilia-Romagna, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":118,"featured_media":138010,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"condensed-double-column","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"The rhetoric of \u201cexcellence\u201d and \u201ctypical products\u201d often reveals how these labels are empty narrative containers\u2014useful for marketing and for reassuring consumers. However, there is a new food model worth looking at: one that is more sustainable, inclusive, and capable of evolving.","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_seopress_news_disabled":"","_seopress_video_disabled":"","_seopress_video":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas_manual":[],"_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable_all":"","_seopress_pro_rich_snippets_disable":[],"_seopress_pro_schemas":[],"selected_color":"","palette":"{\"media_id\":138010,\"colors\":[[240,146,145],[227,54,51],[231,78,73],[247,220,221],[244,202,204]],\"selected\":\"rgb(240, 146, 145)\",\"gradients\":{\"a1\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#ffdad8\",\"#ffb3b1\",\"#fb8b8b\",\"#db7172\",\"#bb595a\",\"#7e2a2d\",\"#50070f\",\"#410007\",\"#2c0004\"],\"a2\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#ffdad8\",\"#e6bdbb\",\"#c9a2a0\",\"#ad8886\",\"#916e6d\",\"#5d3f3e\",\"#381f1f\",\"#2c1515\",\"#200b0b\"],\"a3\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f3\",\"#ffdeac\",\"#e4c18d\",\"#c7a674\",\"#aa8c5c\",\"#8f7345\",\"#5a4319\",\"#352200\",\"#281900\",\"#1a0f00\"],\"n1\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#ede0df\",\"#d0c4c3\",\"#b4a9a8\",\"#998e8e\",\"#7f7574\",\"#4d4544\",\"#2b2424\",\"#201a1a\",\"#15100f\"],\"n2\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#f4dddc\",\"#d7c1c0\",\"#bba6a5\",\"#a08c8b\",\"#857372\",\"#524342\",\"#302322\",\"#251918\",\"#190e0e\"],\"error\":[\"#fffbff\",\"#fff8f7\",\"#ffdad6\",\"#ffb4ab\",\"#ff897d\",\"#ff5449\",\"#de3730\",\"#93000a\",\"#540003\",\"#410002\",\"#2d0001\"]}}","authors":"[{\"role\":\"Words by\",\"related\":[{\"postType\":\"collaborator\",\"postTypeLabel\":\"Contributor\",\"title\":\"Luca Martinelli\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/collaboratore\/luca-martinelli\/\",\"ID\":150206,\"value\":150206,\"label\":\"Luca Martinelli\",\"thumbnail\":false}],\"title\":\"\",\"unique_id\":\"NDc5MzE5MDU2MzQ1NDQ0MDMw\"}]","magazine_id":"146861","footnotes":"[{\"content\":\"The <a href=\\\"https:\/\/consorzioprosciuttodicarpegna.it\\\">Consorzio del Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP<\/a> is the official body responsible for overseeing the production standards, quality, and authenticity of Carpegna DOP ham.\",\"id\":\"59b73edc-01f1-4990-9d6c-6572792f6790\"},{\"content\":\"The Italian equivalent of PDO (<em>Protected Designation of Origin<\/em>), a European certification that guarantees a product is made in a specific geographical area using traditional methods.\",\"id\":\"18f2aa14-08db-4eaa-8571-4bf3598edc10\"},{\"content\":\"To put that into perspective: in the province of Pesaro e Urbino, where Carpegna is located, the density of farmed pigs is fewer than 4 head per square kilometre; in Lombardia, it reaches 480 in the province of Cremona, 425 in Mantova, and exceeds 400 in Lodi; in Emilia, it is around a hundred in Reggio Emilia.\",\"id\":\"a7ff2115-c289-4ac8-bcef-1de65e79c9be\"},{\"content\":\"A campus for young mountain entrepreneurs, promoted by the\u00a0<em>Fondazione Edoardo Garrone<\/em>\u00a0in collaboration with\u00a0<em>Fondazione Cariplo<\/em>, aimed at fostering innovative projects in mountain areas.\",\"id\":\"21192931-e469-43c7-96c9-1cf00e753f6d\"},{\"content\":\"Yes, it\u2019s already been ten years: themed\u00a0<em>\u201cFeeding the Planet, Energy for Life\u201d<\/em>, with Foody, the Disney-designed mascot, still remembered by some.\",\"id\":\"7096c65a-b370-4de5-a449-c498421f91ec\"},{\"content\":\"The new edition was presented in July 2024 in Rome by Ermete Realacci \u2013 president of the Symbola Foundation, former president of Legambiente, and a parliamentarian from 2001 to 2018 \u2013 and by Ettore Prandini, national president of Coldiretti. The report focuses on small municipalities and local specialties, highlighting the role of traditional products, craftsmanship, and sustainable practices in fostering economic development and cultural identity in Italy\u2019s lesser-known areas.\",\"id\":\"984caa8d-d31b-4591-a8e2-5b1bf318e294\"},{\"content\":\"An Italian non-profit foundation focused on promoting sustainable development, innovation, and the cultural, environmental, and economic value of local territories.\",\"id\":\"1089cc67-0af8-4aa4-9692-f8a2b268b351\"},{\"content\":\"Italy\u2019s largest farmers\u2019 association, representing agricultural producers, promoting local food products, and advocating for rural and agricultural interests at a national and international level.\",\"id\":\"e3e97b9a-f108-4d36-9872-3e4e18737b97\"},{\"content\":\"A national list by the Italian Ministry of Agriculture that recognizes foods made with traditional methods for at least 25 years. Unlike EU labels (PDO, PGI), PAT are not certified but highlight Italy\u2019s regional food heritage.\",\"id\":\"03db9b95-e9e4-4ae3-833a-ccc7f2d7c8bf\"},{\"content\":\"Traditional Tuscan bread\u00a0is famously known as\u00a0<em>sciocco<\/em>, meaning it is made without salt. This characteristic dates back to the Middle Ages, when salt was heavily taxed and often too expensive for everyday use. Its distinctive flavour, with a dense crumb and crisp crust, makes it the perfect companion to the savoury dishes of Tuscan cuisine.\",\"id\":\"b3260e25-fd4e-4fc9-97f4-020e76cb8ac3\"}]"},"categories":[1620],"tags":[1861,2016,2017,2018],"location":[],"class_list":["post-150181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-essay","tag-essay","tag-excellences","tag-typical-product","tag-italy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/118"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=150181"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":155481,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/150181\/revisions\/155481"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=150181"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=150181"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=150181"},{"taxonomy":"location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cookinc.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/location?post=150181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}