FAR SOUTH - In the deep lands of Calabria

Calabria is therefore a land of survival and conquest by man since the dawn of civilization, thanks to its geographical position in the center of the Mediterranean, which makes it from the beginning the territory of transit and meeting. Over centuries, cattle, sheep and goats have been vital to the inhabitants of the Calabrian mountains. However, animal breeders have been dwindling over the years, at an alarming rate. Consequently, an important productive and economic decrement occurred, due not only to the hardness of the job, but also to an uncertain agricultural economy, becoming less and less profitable everyday. Protective intervention programs through European funding, have managed in part to heal a situation that over time proves to be rather precarious. The defense and protection of Calabrian farms is an important activity for the whole Italian territory, as their loss is not only an economic but also a cultural damage.

Throughout history, humanity builded realities, molded on specific social and territorial features, that are now been recognized as local excellences.

In ancient times there was a population, that resided in the extreme southern region of the italic peninsula, first known as Vituli, wich litterally means "inhabitant of the land of the calves."
So called because their religion was based on the adoration of the image of a calf. Historical records reported that ancient greeks referred to the Vituli with another name: Italòi.
Over time, this term took place and among the VI and the V century B.C., the word "Italia" initially indicating a specific region of peninsula: the modern Calabria.

Calabria is therefore a land of survival and conquest by man since the dawn of civilization, thanks to its geographical position in the center of the Mediterranean, which makes it from the beginning the territory of transit and meeting.

In the hinterlands, on the Sila highlands, the transhumance takes place since time immemorial. Over there, life seems to be hung between tradition and progress, out of space and time. The cattle breeding, primarily autochthonous Podolica breed of the southern areas of the Italian peninsula, is the greatest source of profit for the territory.

Over centuries, cattle, sheep and goats have been vital to the inhabitants of the Calabrian mountains. However, animal breeders have been dwindling over the years, at an alarming rate. Consequently, an important productive and economic decrement occurred, due not only to the hardness of the job, but also to an uncertain agricultural economy, becoming less and less profitable everyday.

Life here is simple, often hard. The centuries-old rites tighten the man-animal bond, preserving the conditions for this cultural heritage to endure.

Programs of protective intervention through the European funding that intervene to safeguard the breeding of native breeds, such as Podolica among the cattle, have succeeded partly in remedying a situation that over time proves to be rather precarious.

The defense of the autochthonous breeding it 's important not only to the Calabria region, but also to the whole Italian peninsula, given the loss of biodiversity it's both an economic damage as well as cultural.

A reflection to which we are increasingly invited, to root an awareness that leads to effective actions.