Man has always hunted for food, he did it with his bare hands, he did it with stones when he was homo habilis, with rudimentary weapons and then with sniper rifles. How is it done today - in the Quaternary era - to eat game? And why is it so important to do so? There hunting it seems an activity so primitive and demanding - morally and physically - that it belongs to an earlier geological era. And instead we are still hunting, less but better, with strict rules and regulations. And perhaps, sewing a story that has hunters, butchers, artisans, cooks, wild animals as protagonists, right now - for the first time since man has existed and since he hunts the animals he eats - returns that gesture to its primordial essence and justification.
Is it possible to eat meat in a sustainable way?
There is a third way between those who do not eat meat for ethical and ecological reasons and between those who eat meat without asking too many questions: that of those who eat meat in a aware. We could throw ourselves off balance and say: sustainable. They are those who carefully choose their suppliers making sure of the breeding conditions, they are those who consume less meat and do it with a respect for the animal that resembles the ancient one of the farmer who killed the pig after having pampered it all year round. celebrating it as a gift in all its parts and not wasting even an ounce of that sacrifice. And they are also those who eat game meat cut down in selection. There's only one problem: it's not that easy to find. Not yet.
What is selection hunting?
The woods, valleys and hills are full of wild animals: they live not far from us, so much so that we happen to cross the road while we are on a Sunday trip to the hills (not to mention forays into the city). Their wild and natural life is damn different from ours. The point is that, in most cases, there are too many. And this is not good for the precarious faunal and natural balance of the environment in which we live so closely with them. To safeguard this coexistence and the balance of the environment, the selection hunting. What is it about? An activity regulated by the institutions and carried out by professional and trained hunters, it takes place on certain species of animals and in pre-established periods and territories. It is practiced according to slaughter plans that indicate the number, age, sex of the animals to be slaughtered and at what time of year to do so. Cruelty? Exactly the opposite: it is an activity that is carried out for the purpose of preserve ecosystems, for the safety and containment of species and to avoid the damage of overpopulation. This type of hunting has as its first objective the wildlife welfare. For selection hunting you need seriousness and commitment and it is not always a convenient activity for the hunter, who is also involved in the management of the territory and the wildlife heritage.
The hunter must become a profession
Piero Genoese, responsible ISPRA Wildlife Coordination Service (the Higher Institute for Environmental Protection and Research which, among other things, has the task of taking a census of the environmental heritage constituted by wild fauna, of elaborating intervention projects and establishing the criteria that the Regions must follow to regulate the hunting activity), selection hunting is a strongly to be encouraged, also through the professionalization of the figure of the hunter. "Selection hunting is a planned harvest that minimizes the impact on the wild population, does not alter the population and minimizes the disturbance of other species ", explains. Nothing to do with hunted wild boar, just to give an example. There is also a cultural aspect: the selection hunter (let's call him selecacciatore) is trained, has passed an exam in legislative, ecological and conservation matters. But in Italy - unlike, for example, Canada, Japan or Sweden - the hunter's profession does not exist. The activity is carried out for sport, for hobby, for passion. The non-selective hunter (let's call him a hobbyist), except for wild boar, cannot hunt ungulates (red deer, fallow deer, roe deer, chamois ...) and can only exercise his passion during the hunting period, which usually runs from September to January. On the other hand, the hunter can hunt all year round, following a calendar and a killing plan studied at a regional level in which each individual or team is assigned a number of animals divided by species, age and sex and the time of the year in which to be able to them. to break down. In fact, each species has its own periods to be hunted, so as not to affect reproduction.
A few numbers on hunting
From Ispra data, it is estimated that in 2019 about 70 wild boars were killed in Tuscany, of which 6.000 in selective hunting, 6.000 in control (i.e. in hunting areas managed by an institution) and 52 in hunt (by hobbyists). In Emilia Romagna 30 thousand have been killed, 15 thousand in Abruzzo. Each slaughtered wild boar gives about 15-20 kilos of meat. In Piemonte 184 tons of edible wild boar meat were collected in 2019, equivalent to 13 wild boars. It depends on the areas, but a hunter can shoot up to 5 animals per season. And what about slaughtered meat? The law provides for personal use or transfer to special processing centers for marketing within a controlled supply chain. This second case - virtuous, sustainable and enlightened - however, does not exist in practice. Except in Emilia-Romagna, but we will return to it later.
The lack of a supply chain
"The critical point is that there is still no supply chain for game meat”Says Genovesi. “Some regions are ahead of others, such as Emilia-Romagna for example. But it is necessary to invest in the creation of a virtuous supply chain that can place hunted game meat in selection on the market, with verified paths, to protect the consumer.". If in the past hunting was done with very invasive techniques, and for this reason the traditional recipes provided for meat marinated for hours and covered with spices, today modern bullets do not damage the garments and with the right aging the meats are also easier to consume and to cook. But unfortunately there is still no verified path from the forest to the table, and most of the animals killed in Italy go to the black circuit where there is no verification of the supplier and the right form of hunting and not even the correct slaughter or maturation. The "lobby of hunters" (as it is called in the environment) supplies restaurants or private individuals, but without traceability and sometimes even without the requirements of quality and safety. With a great paradox: Italy imports game! If the restaurant has as its only legitimate alternative that of procuring game from a distributor (not being able to do so in the context of a short but controlled supply chain), this will have meat in its catalog often coming from Eastern Europe or New Zealand. In short, it is essential to make hunters professional, to ensure that a supply chain is established, that everything can be certified and that therefore distributors can trade in Italian game both to restaurants for preparations and to butchers for direct sales to customers. The ancient ideological resistances on the figure of the hunter can and must be swept away.