Diversificazione di alcune produzioni tipiche dell’allevamento nelle vallate alpine piemontesi

Livestock farming systems in mountains and hills maintain some important environmental and genetic characteristics and productive variability. At the same time they are characterized by a great fragility so that they request a careful management. Animals bred in these areas are often local breeds characterized by a high rate of adaptability. From them derive many typical products, both cheese and meat, which differ among valleys; all these different productions reflect the necessity, strongly felt in the past, of their storage for long time and the need to consider the whole animal as a source of feed even the body parts that today are considered as a refuse. These milk and meat derived feeds are important in human nutrition because of their qualitive and nutritional characteristics; in fact they contain some fatty acids (CLA, Conjugated Linoleic Acid) synthesized only by grazing ruminants. Moreover it is important to remind the positive role of livestock farming systems in land conservation (soil protection by erosion and landslides), landscape conservation and maintenance of an unique cultural heritage. The hope for the future is that these functions will be recognised even from the economic point of view by the entire population.