In an attempt to help cheese producers in Emilia-Romagna , a region devastated by a several earthquakes last month, regional consortiums are organizing ways for consumers to buy the damaged wheels of Parmigiano-Reggiano and Grana Padano cheese – produced in and around the city of Parma.
The malformed, but still perfectly good cheese is being sold throughout Italy, and so far many people have responded to the campaign to keep the producers afloat. “This chain of solidarity is wonderful: the only way to help us now is to buy parmesan cheese,” said Giuseppe Alai, president of the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Consortium, to the Italian Journalistic Agency.
One organization, the Portos Cultural Association, has been committed to helping one of the largest cheese factories in the region. The San Simone di Reggio Emilia Factory alone has tabulated 150 million euros of damaged cheese. The imperfectly shaped but still delicious parmesan cheese has been aged for 12 months and can now be purchased for 10.50€ per kilo (delivery in Italy only). Help out by emailing terremoto@coldiretti.it with your name, phone number, shipping address and order info.
Other organizations are also helping with sales. Our friend Italophile Jessica Spiegel suggests checking this Facebook Group with a listing of dairies directly selling cheese. Expat and travel expert Elizabeth Minchilli recommends checking acrimodena.org for more on cheese sales (which were temporarily halted when additional tremors hit the area last week.)
By Kathy McCabe
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