Traditional Products and Longevity in Sardinia. A Preliminary Study for a Certification Strategy

Studies carried out by medical researchers and demographers have discovered the existence of areas of the world, the so-called Blue Zones, which show a very high concentration of long-lived people, the first one being the Sardinian Blue Zone, identified by a team of researchers led by M. Poulain and G.M. Pes and located in the Nuoro and Ogliastra provinces. The same areas are also home to several traditional products that not only are very popular, as they also showcase some characteristics that may be linked to longevity. In order to successfully market these products, whose diffusion is limited by several factors and with the aim to preserve the products’ quality and authenticity, a study on the possibility of creating quality brands that could enhance the diffusion of the local products of Ogliastra and valorise the positive effects they have on health, must be carried out. After a revision of the state of the art, the paper analyses the results of an enquiry carried out on pupils of the primary and junior high schools in Ogliastra and their families, aimed at assessing the persistence (and thus the level of perceived authenticity) of traditional products within the households of Ogliastra. Moreover, the paper focuses on the efforts made until now to create a certification system for local products of Ogliastra with a critical approach, aimed at evidencing the main challenges and providing a framework for a harmonisation of the subject that could provide a base for a regional strategy of development.