 s well as sharing certain market characteristics, the Val di Chiana, Marchigiana and Romagnola breeds of cattle also have a common origin and history. All three breeds were brought to the apex of their evolution in the days of sharecroppers. The breeds were perfected on the typical
share-cropping estates of the hilly regions of central Italy where they were originally used as draught animals for the tilling of fields. It was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that the cattle began to be bred specifically for their meat. Vitellone Bianco dell'Appennino Centrale comes from pure Val di Chiana, Marchigiana and Romagnola calves of either sex aged between 12 and 24 months. The growth of the calves, and the structure and composition of the carcasses are determined by the genetic lineage of the cattle, the rearing methods and the feeding techniques. Together, these factors combine to give the meat its distinctive and readily identifiable character. The meadows and fields in the central section of the Apennines, a mountain range that stretches like a backbone down the Italian peninsula, constitute an ecosystem with ideal climatic and environmental conditions that allow a wide array of flora to prosper. All these factors combine to create a meat with high organoleptic and nutritional value. The production area for the white veal encompasses all the territories and provinces that surround the central Apennines, namely: Bologna, Ravenna, Forlì, Rimini, Pesaro, Ancona, Macerata, Ascoli Piceno, Teramo, Pescara, Chieti, L'Aquila, Campobasso, Isernia, Benevento, Avellino, Frosinone, Rieti, Viterbo, Terni, Perugia, Grosseto, Siena, Arezzo, Florence, Prato, Leghorn and Pisa.
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