Vastedda in the time of the coronavirus

  In this period we produce very little Vastedda della Valle del Belìce DOP. But let's continue to do it with love...

The words of Massimo Todaro, president of the consortium for the protection of Vastedda della Valle del Belìce DOP and ONAF master taster.
'the zootechnical sector cannot go on vacation', so explains the president Massimo Todaro.

coronavirus Vastedda della Valle del Belìce PDO

'The farms must be constantly cared for, we cannot stop', he says
'the sheep produce milk for 240/250 days a year. The lambs are sold one month after birth'

The milk must be milked anyway, this is because 'sheep are at risk of getting sick and experiencing mastitis (inflammation of the udders)'.
Another problem as Todaro explains, 'our producers are small and unorganized. They have several sales channels, but most of them go towards catering'.
In addition, 'March, April and May are the period of greatest milk production. About 50 percent of sheep's milk is produced.
So we risk being left with the unused or unsold product.'

Insights

The link with the territory, the Vastedda...

Traditions handed down by history. This is the actual Vastedda...

The consortium's activities have an impact on production...

  Among the fundamental characteristics of Vastedda della Valle del Belìce there is the use of raw sheep's milk obtained from free and spontaneous grazing farms..
As stated in the production disciplinary, the milk to be made from cheese comes from Valle del Belìce sheep fed with fresh fodder, hay and straw of excellent quality, wheat stubble and vegetative by-products such as grass along the rows of vineyards, pruning branches olive tree, prickly pear cladodes, grape leaves after the harvest.
Excluded from the production process, all GMOs, feed and those derivatives of animal origin that alter the biological factors of sheep.
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