Fagiolo di Sorana

The Sorana bean is a type of cannellini bean grown near the Italian comune (municipality) of Sorana, along the Pescia River [it], in the province of Pistoia, Tuscany. Cultivation is limited to an extremely small microclimate area with conditions considered excellent for growing this type of bean, and production is low. Demand is high, and prices are six to ten times that of other cannellini-type beans. In 2002 it received protected geographical indication (PGI) certification from the European Union. 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: 838  and Tuscany by 1528 and were widely distributed by the early 17th century. By the early 19th century the beans grown around Sorana were being recognized as high quality. Depopulation of the area caused by the world wars meant that cultivation of the Sorana bean had nearly ceased by the 1980s. By 1994 the bean was in danger of becoming extinct.: xi  Recovery is credited to the non-profit Associazione dei piccoli produttori del Fagiolo di Sorana Il Ghiareto ONLUS (Ghiareto Association), a group of small and hobbyist farmers who were the only remaining growers, which formed in 1994.: 183  During the 1990s, along with Italian journalist Indro Montanelli and led by restaurateur and photographer Valdo Verreschi, who edited a 1994 collection of works about the bean,: viii  the group promoted creation of the PGI, which encouraged more locals to start growing the beans again. In 2002 the bean was given PGI certification.

Source: Wikipedia