Sorana bean
Cultivation is limited to an extremely small microclimate area with conditions considered excellent for growing this type of bean, and production is low.
It is considered economically important to the survival of agriculture in the Pescia Valley and because of this is believed to have helped prevent emigration from the area.
Native to the New World, beans had reportedly arrived in Rome by 1515[1]: 838 and Tuscany by 1528 and were widely distributed by the early 17th century.
[3] Depopulation of the area caused by the world wars meant that cultivation of the Sorana bean had nearly ceased by the 1980s.
[7][8] A cylindrical red bean is also grown in the area and is sometimes referred to as Antico Rosso di Sorana.
[4] The bean is 1.5 cm (0.6 in) long, pearly white, shiny, and slightly flattened with a skin so thin it has been called "imperceptible to the palate".
[13]The bean is grown in limited quantities along the east and west banks of the northwestern portion[13] of the Pescia River, near Sorana, in Tuscany,[3] near the base of the Apennines, about halfway between Florence and Pisa.
[6] Annual production is small[12] with no more than 660 hectares (2.5 square miles) planted each year, often by hobbyist or part-time farmers.
"[2] Italian food writer Davide Paolini [it] wrote that the same beans planted elsewhere would have nothing in common with those grown in the Ghiareto.
[5]: ix 2007 Saveur magazine reported the price for Soranas was ten times that of other cannellini beans.
[14][15] Tourism and rural development associated with the Sorana bean is considered important,[14]: 264 and academics William van Caenegem and Jen Cleary have speculated that the support to local farmers has helped prevent emigration to other areas[14]: 268 and contributed to the survival of agriculture in the Pescia Valley.
[14]: 272–273 A 2016 study found that the PGI certification of the Sorana had "supported the survival of agriculture in this area and revitalized the marginalized territory of the Sorana valley by facilitating the valorization of other products, such as local extra-virgin olive oil, or by promoting rural tourism (restaurants offering special bean menus and agro-tourism)".
