It’s not just food, it’s a lifestyle

So, we finally started to create a website for Stop Italian Sounding, and this is some exciting news!

First of all, I’d like to introduce myself. I am Robert Campana, I’m Italian-American and the founder of the movement Stop Italian Sounding (SIS). If you follow on any of our social media platforms, I’d like to say Thank you and Grazie mille! Without your support, we wouldn’t be where we are!

You may ask: why is an Italian-American so interested in educating about Italian products? Well, growing up I feel as though I have always had one foot in the US and one foot in Italy. I would often wonder why so many Italian products were poorly imitated outside of Italy. So, after many trips to Italy I found out the answer and want to share it with everyone (keep reading for the answer).

Our mission is simply to educate about real vs Italian sounding products. As you know, almost all Italian food and beverage products are rooted in deep history and tradition, and part of our mission is to share the passion we have with you!

Italian food isn’t just simply about satisfying one’s hunger (even though it does a great job at that), it is also about appreciating the territory from which it comes, sitting down to meals with loved ones, and enjoying simple and healthy cuisine. As I like to say: Italian food is more than food, it’s a lifestyle.

In fact, it’s a lifestyle that many try to imitate around the world. That is why the term Italian sounding exists. These are products that are made outside of Italy with the intent of inducing the consumer into erroneously associating the local product with the Italian one.

Most of the time the imitations are not even close to the original, and this has to do with a few things: territory and craftmanship. These are precisely two things that are impossible to replicate anywhere else in the world.

Many Italian products are unique because of the territory from which they come. I think about cheeses like Parmigiano Reggiano and Gorgonzola, meats like Prosciutto di Parma and Bresaola, and wines like Prosecco and Barolo (this list can go on and on). These are all products that are imitated around the world, but will never be like the originals because of one thing: the territory.

The territory plays a huge role in the product not only from a historical point of view, but because Italy is a Nation that is full of microclimates. For example, Parmigiano Reggiano can only be produced in the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantova (south of Po river), and Bologna (west of Reno river). This is because the territory, for example, makes the environment suitable for specific feed to grow for cows to eat, that then produce milk for the cheese, which is finally aged in specific climates. These characteristics cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world because we are not only talking about one thing, we are talking about a series of things (like a supply chain) that is dependent on one another.

The next element is craftmanship. Many Italian products have been produced by generation after generation. This is an element of pride for so many families that are involved in the production of Italian food and beverage products. In many cases, people who have grown up around the production of food know only that. The transformation of local raw materials to the final product has become basically woven in so many Italians’ DNA, and again, this is an element that cannot be replicated anywhere else in the world. They are innately passionate about their creations.

So, with all that being said, Stop Italian Sounding intends to protect the tradition, history, and authenticity of all Italian food and beverage products by educating the consumers on ways to recognise the real product.

Italian food is more than food, it’s a lifestyle.

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