Cinta Senese Breeding: Benefits for the Environment, Animals, and Your Health

When it comes to Cinta Senese breeding, for us at Renieri, it’s not just about producing meat for our cured meats. It means deeply believing in a way of working that brings concrete benefits to the environment around us, to the animals themselves, and, consequently, also to the health of those who choose our products. Not all breeding methods are the same, and the choice of how these magnificent Tuscan pigs are raised has an impact that goes far beyond the taste on your plate. Today, with the simplicity and transparency that distinguish us, we want to tell you why extensive Cinta Senese breeding, which we strongly advocate, is truly a good choice for everyone

When we, the Renieri family, talk about extensive breeding of our Cinta Senese, we are referring to a system that prioritizes respect for nature and the animal. Try to imagine it with me… not enclosed sheds, but large open spaces. These are often our wonderful Tuscan woods, rich in oak, holm oak, and chestnut trees, or natural lands and pastures where our pigs can move in total freedom. They can do what they love most and what is in their nature: grufolare (rooting with their snout in the ground in search of food) for hours, socializing with their peers, running, resting in the shade of a tree…

In this type of traditional breeding, which we feel deeply is our own, there is ample space for every single animal. Consider that the very Cinta Senese DOP production specification is very clear and strict on this point: it mandates that no more than 10 adult animals can be raised per hectare of land. One hectare! That’s almost like one and a half football fields. This gives you an idea of how much living space is guaranteed to each animal, an aspect that for us is fundamental for their serene growth… and, by extension, for the superior quality of the meat that results.

And their diet? Well, it’s mainly what they find themselves while grazing: flavorful acorns, roots, fragrant tubers, wild herbs that the woods and fields generously offer. Of course, to ensure our animals always have a balanced diet and balanced growth, supplementation is sometimes necessary. But here too, our choice is precise, and we want to share it with you with utmost transparency, because for us it’s a point of honor: this supplementary feeding is done exclusively with noble cereals of Tuscan origin, such as corn, barley, and fava beans. And, crucially, no genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are permitted. This commitment to local, natural, and controlled ingredients not only deeply respects the rustic character of the Cinta Senese, a strong breed accustomed to living outdoors, but it is also one of the secrets to obtaining that superior quality meat that you then have the pleasure of appreciating in our cured meats.

To fully understand the value of extensive breeding, the method we at Renieri have chosen and strongly support, it’s useful to make a small, honest comparison with intensive breeding, a model unfortunately still very widespread for other pig breeds. The differences, friends, are truly significant, and they touch upon important aspects.

What changes for the environment around us:

Extensive Cinta Senese breeding, done properly, is a true friend of our Tuscan environment. Our animals, by grazing, help maintain the landscape, clearing the undergrowth (and this, believe it or not, even reduces the risk of fires, a very important thing for our Tuscany!) and fertilizing the soil in a completely natural way.

The rule of no more than 10 animals per hectare, imposed by the DOP regulations, also ensures a low concentration of animals, thus limiting the production of waste that could pollute.

Intensive farming, on the other hand, often has a very different impact: it requires a large consumption of water and energy, can contribute to higher greenhouse gas emissions, and creates significant problems for the disposal of slurry, which risks polluting the land and our precious groundwater.

Furthermore, the need to produce enormous quantities of concentrated feed for these systems can lead to deforestation in other parts of the world, often to cultivate precisely those GMO cereals that we, by choice, carefully avoid.

Animal welfare: a matter of respect, first and foremost:

Here, the difference, for us, is perhaps what touches us most deeply. In extensive farming, thanks also to the ample space guaranteed by the regulations, our Cinta Senese is free to move, can do what it would do if it lived wild (like rooting for hours, rolling in the mud when it’s hot, being with other pigs), lives outdoors, and does not suffer the stress of being confined in enclosed spaces. This translates into healthier, more serene animals, and for us, this is a fundamental, indispensable value.

And there’s another very important aspect that we want to emphasize, because we believe in it so much: precisely because their living conditions are natural and less stressful, and because they don’t live crammed into confined spaces, Cinta Senese raised in this way are not given preventive antibiotics (what is sometimes called “prophylaxis”), as unfortunately often happens in intensive farming.

Our animals are naturally more robust and less prone to illness.
Intensive farming, in contrast, often forces animals into very small spaces, sometimes on artificial floors, preventing them from expressing their natural species-specific behaviors and generating high levels of stress. This, unfortunately, can make them weaker and require greater use of medications.

For us at Renieri, animal welfare is not just a nice phrase to write, but a concrete commitment that we prioritize, and extensive farming is the main path to ensuring it.

Choosing Cinta Senese meat raised extensively, like the one we use for our Renieri cured meats, is not just a conscious choice for the environment and a gesture of respect towards animals, but it also brings concrete benefits for our health.

Good fats, heart-friendly:

The fat of Cinta Senese raised on pasture and with such a carefully managed diet tends to have a more favorable composition for our body.

It is rich in oleic acid (the same good fat found in olive oil, for example) and has a higher concentration of important fatty acids like Omega-3s and Omega-6s. Omega-3s, in particular, are known for their positive effects on our cardiovascular system and their valuable anti-inflammatory properties.

Fewer unwanted residues, more safety:

A breeding method that respects the rhythms of nature, the strict rules of the DOP specifications, the health of the animals, that carefully chooses what to feed them (no GMOs, only top-quality Tuscan cereals), and that, as we’ve said, does not resort to the preventive use of antibiotics, naturally has less need to use many medications in general. And this, for you, means cleaner, safer, more genuine meat.

Full of natural antioxidants:

It is rich in oleic acid (the same good fat found in olive oil, for example) and has a higher concentration of important fatty acids like Omega-3s and Omega-6s. Omega-3s, in particular, are known for their positive effects on our cardiovascular system and their valuable anti-inflammatory properties.

In short, meat that comes from well-raised animals, that move freely and eat natural and controlled foods, is undoubtedly a healthier choice for everyone.

You see, friends, choosing Cinta Senese that comes from extensive farming – farming that follows precise rules like that of no more than 10 animals per hectare, that feeds its animals only with the best of our Tuscan land excluding GMOs, and that raises them in conditions such that they do not need preventive antibiotics – is much more than a simple preference when you go shopping. It’s a concrete way to take care of the environment that hosts us, it’s a gesture of deep respect for animals, and it’s also a small, but significant, investment for our health.

It means supporting a way of doing things that preserves traditions, that values our land, and that allows us to bring to your table a truly excellent product, truly high-quality meat.

When you choose what to put on your plate, we give you a friendly piece of advice, one we would give to our children: inform yourselves about how the animals were raised and what they ate. It may be a small gesture, but it makes a big, big difference for our planet, for animals, and for the goodness and genuineness of what you eat. Continue to follow us on www.renieri.net, because we still have many beautiful and good things to tell you about the wonderful world of Tuscan excellences and how, with passion and commitment, they are created every day.