Assessing the Sustainability of Typical Agro-Food Products: Insights from Apulia Region, Italy (original) (raw)
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Meybeck A., Redfern S., Paoletti F. and Strassner C. (eds.); Proceedings of International Workshop “Assessing sustainable diets within the sustainability of food systems - Mediterranean diet, organic food: new challenges”; 15–16 September 2014, Rome. FAO, Rome. pp: 147-151, 2015
In the framework of the Agriculture & Quality programme of Apulia region (southeastern Italy), in addition to the issues of quality, CIHEAM-Bari started a pilot project to promote the sustainability of the products with a regional voluntary quality scheme. Therefore, the products that adhere to the quality scheme should not only comply with the quality requirements defined by the technical specifications but also with sustainability requirements. The pilot project is one of the activities started after the international seminar organized by CIHEAM in collaboration with FAO on "Sustainability of food systems in the Mediterranean Area" in Malta in September 2012. The aim is to apply the methodology proposed in Malta to a well-defined territorial context (i.e. Apulia region) by developing the most appropriate indicators to assess the sustainability of Apulian products adhering to the quality scheme. This preliminary communication on the ongoing pilot project presents the methodological approach adopted, the sustainability criteria and themes identified and some indicators selected to assess the economic, environmental, socio-cultural and nutritional-health sustainability of Apulian quality agro-food products.
Book of Abstracts, 158th EAAE Seminar “Euro-Mediterranean Cooperation in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security: Policies, Sustainability, Marketing and Trade”; 08-09 September, 2016; Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Chania (CIHEAM-MAICh), Chania (Crete), Greece. pp. 10-11, 2016
There is a huge potential for the development of agricultural sector in Mediterranean territories by focusing on the valorisation of typical and traditional products, which represent the cornerstone of the well-known Mediterranean diet. However, this potential remains largely unexploited due to many legal, organisational, communication and marketing constraints. Combining tradition, innovation and sustainability can help better communicating the unique attributes and characteristics of typical products to consumers. Actually, more and more attention is paid to the sustainability of typical agro-food products. However, while producers associate a particular importance to economic sustainability, more weight is associated by consumers to the environmental one. As for economic sustainability, it is mainly related to profitability for producers while accessible prices for consumers. This creates a trade-off between consumers and producers and policy should mediate in order to find a balance between these different sustainability understandings and aspirations of two important actors of the agro-food chain. This is a concrete challenge also for the government of Apulia region (south-eastern Italy). Developing a shared and sound approach for the definition, assessment and dissemination of environmental, economic, socio-cultural and nutrition-health sustainability in relation to the Apulian typical agro-food system can help addressing this challenge and also serve as a tool for the valorisation of regional typical products and as a driver for development and growth of the entire territory. In the framework of Agriculture & Quality programme 2013-2015 of Apulia region, a pilot project was performed to develop appropriate and measurable indicators to assess the sustainability of Apulian products adhering to the quality scheme “Quality Products of Apulia”. The paper aims to highlight the methodological approach adopted, the sustainability criteria identified and indicators selected to assess the economic sustainability of Apulian quality agro-food products. Economic sustainability can be defined as the capacity to effectively combine resources in order to generate sustainable economic growth for enhancing the quality of products and local services thus rural community livelihood. In particular, economic sustainability of a product or an agro-food supply chain is the ability to generate income and employment on an ongoing basis. Identified criteria of sustainability are related to income, employment, investment, and production factors profitability and productivity. According to these criteria, indicators easily measurable at the farm/company level were identified. These relate to products and services diversification, commercial riskiness index, localization index, investment and innovation propensity, labour and capital profitability, and output enhancement capacity. A scoring system was developed for each indicator referring to each product and supply chain; from 0 (unsustainable) to 10 (very sustainable) with 5 corresponding to sustainability benchmark or reference value. The sustainability benchmarks will be reviewed and updated over time based on monitoring of companies involved in the quality scheme. The challenge ahead is to see how these indicators referring to products or businesses can be used for assessing the sustainability of food supply chains in the different Mediterranean territories.
Traditional and typical foods represent the opposite of mass production and are important elements of the Mediterranean cultural heritage. The paper aims to present a preliminary methodological approach and a first set of indicators for assessing the socio-cultural sustainability of Apulian typical agro-food products. An expert focus group approach was used, within Agriculture & Quality programme (2013-2015) of Apulia region, to identify sustainability principles and criteria and to select for each criterion appropriate indicators referring either to business activities or products. A 0-10 rating system was developed for each indicator: 0 (unsustainable), 10 (very sustainable) and 5 (sustainability benchmark value). Social sustainability is defined as the capacity to ensure equity in life quality and human well-being conditions, independently of class and gender. From a cultural viewpoint, it is important to take into account the community's own distinctive and traditional elements that form its original identity. Socio-cultural criteria concern, among others, the worker protection and relations while maintaining culture and local traditions over time. Indicators identified deal with the following sustainability criteria: chain actors' life quality and wellbeing; corporate social and ethical responsibility; women's participation; social inclusion; good relations with the local community; promotion of local identity and transmission of traditional knowledge; workers' training; foreign labourers' inclusion; and animal welfare. Traditional and typical foods represent the cornerstone of the Mediterranean diet cultural heritage. The promotion of the Mediterranean diet, and the cultural heritage that represents, should go together with the valorisation of traditional and typical products on which it is based, and with the sustainable rural and territorial development. Assessing the sustainability of these products can be an effective operational approach for achieving this goal and at the epicentre of the effort to preserve and enhance the Mediterranean Diet.
CIHEAM Watch Letter n° 32 - April 2015, “Feeding Expo Milano with Mediterranean Perspectives”. pp: 40-44, 2015
CIHEAM-Bari in collaboration with different Italian institutions started in 2013 a pilot project to promote the sustainability of the agro-food products with a regional voluntary quality scheme in Apulia region (south-eastern Italy). The products that adhere to the quality scheme should comply with specific environmental, economic, socio-cultural and nutritional-health sustainability requirements. This paper presents the methodological approach adopted, the sustainability criteria and themes identified and some indicators selected to assess the sustainability of Apulian quality products.
Journal of the science of food and agriculture, 2018
The aim of this paper is to work out a methodological approach for the evaluation nutritional sustainability of typical agro-food products, representing the Mediterranean eating habits and included in the Mediterranean food pyramid. For each group of foods, were identified different suitable and easily measurable indicators. Two macro-indicators were used to assess the nutritional sustainability of each product. The first macro-indicator called "business distinctiveness" takes into account the application of different regulations and standards regarding quality, safety and traceability as well as the origin of raw materials. The second macro-indicator called "nutritional quality" assesses product nutritional quality taking into account the contents of key compounds including micronutrient and bioactive phytochemical. For each indicator was set-up a 0-10 scoring system; from 0 (unsustainable), to 10 (very sustainable) with 5 as a sustainability benchmark value. Th...
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The paper introduces an approach, developed in Agriculture & Quality programme, to evaluate the environmental sustainability of Apulian quality agro-food products that is integrated in the regional quality scheme “Quality Products”. It highlights the methodological approach adopted, the sustainability themes identified and the indicators selected. Indicators measurable at the farm/firm level were selected in relation to the following environmental themes: biodiversity, land use and management, energy use and climate change, use of chemical inputs, and responsible management of by-products and waste. A scoring scale was developed for each indicator; going from 0 (unsustainable) to 10 (very sustainable) with 5 corresponding to the sustainability threshold or reference value. The presented approach is both robust and user friendly and is in line with the principle entailing continuous improvement; the key sustainability thresholds will be periodically reviewed and updated. It represent...
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The present paper focuses on consumers’ perception of the sustainability of typical agro-food products in Apulia region. An exploratory survey was conducted among Apulian consumers to collect information on their attitude towards the typical products of the region. The survey aimed to contribute to the identification of the main criteria that drive the food purchasing and consumption decisions, deepening in this context the issue of consumer perception towards typical and traditional Apulian products.
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Sustainability is a complex concept that deals with different dimensions which are economic, social, environmental, cultural and governance-related. Therefore, the aim of a sustainable production should take into consideration all the inputs (natural and social resources) and a particular attention should be given at their protection in order to let them be reproducible in the long-run. In Geographical Indication (GI) products the aim of developing sustainable food production is evident and tangible. In these products not only the value chain dimension is important, but especially the territorial one. The latter, oft described through the French concept of terroir, strictly relates the product to the producers thanks to the raw materials (for their specific attributes gained due to the geophysical characters) and the know-how (for the attributes, which arise as a consequence of the tradition and the human elements). The objective of the paper is to describe in a comprehensive way a ...