Three case studies of landscape design project of Italian marginal areas. An anti-fragile opportunity for an integrated food governance in a post Covid perspective

The recent pandemic has brought marginal territories back to the center of political and academic debates, providing an opportunity to restart territorial projects. Agro-ecosystems and their derivations (Urban gardens, local supply chains, ecosystem services, typical products, rural tourism), which involve very different areas of the territory, could act as activators for a resilient development model for fragile contexts. However, this implies connected and integrated policy and planning tools, envisioning sustainable management methods for production, and integrating them with chains and tourism economy in dialogue with a landscape design vision. Therefore, this paper is aimed to test the urban design project as a tool to integrate interventions, which especially in the rural context are characterized by overlapping objectives. An experimental attempt will be made on three landscape design projects in marginal rural areas with the integration of tangible and intangible actions and a view of a sustainable and resilient restart. The projects analyzed are not so often used as much as static best practices, but in applying the consolidated research-by-design approach. Through it, we suggested four directions to understand and intervene in co-evolutionary processes through mechanisms of composition and decomposition from the urban planning/urban design perspective.

A Systematic Literature Review on European Food Quality Schemes in Romania

Geographical indications (GI) are designated by a member's region or regions within a designated area when the particular quality, reputation, or other characteristics of a product are related solely to its geographical origin and manufacturing process. Manufacturing methods are carried out according to an established Code of Good Practices. The aim of the study was to offer an overview of the current status of the literature related to geographical indications in Romania. A comprehensive and systematic literature review was conducted, and the search process was carried out using keywords such as 'Romanian geographical indications' and 'Romanian food labels.' These specific words must be found in the title, in the of the papers, and also in the keywords section. Agricultural and food products with geographical indications (including wine and spirits) are included in the research. Products and food not related to the agricultural environment, along with services, were not included. It was discovered that, in order to improve the situation concerning geographical indications in Romania and raise consumers awareness, it would be necessary to introduce new national certification that could be more accessible to both producers and consumers, and that would promote regional taste and encourage the preservation of culinary traditions.

Modelling food policies in Italian urban agendas in the time of Covid-19: Experiences, challenges and opportunities.

Global food systems are broken and in need of profound change. These imbalances and vulnerabilities are particularly strong in cities, where most of the global population lives and that are at the core of the major challenges linked with food production and consumption. The food system transition needs cities as key game-changers towards more sustainable, equitable, healthier and fairer food systems. Against this backdrop, the present article analyses the role of food policies within urban policies, with a focus on Italian cities. In particular, the article discusses data collected from representatives of 100 municipalities across Northern, Central and Southern Italy. Moreover, it addresses the types of policies and initiatives adopted at the local level, the main obstacles encountered, the role of national and international city networks and the impact of Covid-19 on urban food security, with the aim to identify potential models of urban food policies as a structural component of a broader urban agenda. By doing this, the article aims at filling a research gap in current literature, as it is the first large-scale survey on urban food policies in Italy, identifying models of urban food policies that are already being developed within broader urban development agendas.

Light-Weight Food/Non-Food Classifier for Real-Time Applications

Today, automatic food/non-food classification became extremely important for many real-time applications, specifically since the pandemic of the COVID-19 virus. Such that the 'no food policy' now became applied more than ever to help decrease the spread of the COVID-19 virus. Consequently, many studies used deep neural networks for the food/non-food classification task, yet these deep neural networks were computationally expensive. As a result, in this paper, a lightweight Convolution Neural Network (CNN) is proposed and put into use for classifying foods and non-foods. Compared to prior efforts, this work yields an outperforming result with an accuracy of 96.875%. © 2022 IEEE.

Designing Food Landscape in the 15-Min Post-covid City. Imagining a New Scenario for Low-Density Spaces in Metropolitan Areas

After the covid crisis, the territorial governance will be a testing ground for innovative approaches that involve spatial configurations and the sustainability of current living practices. In this contribution, we reflect on the potential role of food landscapes as catalysts for the regeneration of marginal urban systems. Therefore, we would explore if – and how -projects in rural contexts can become a tool for applying the 15-min city model in low-density spaces. To address these objectives, we considered three case studies of the Milanese periurban context: a project coordinated by the Municipality of Milan and conducted by a large partnership financed by European funds (OpenAgri) and two experimental simulations produced together with young colleagues for the Area of Parco Agricolo Sud. The method adopted for this investigation is the perspective of “research-by-design,” a type of academic investigation of the architecture field, through which design is explored as a method of inquiry. In all these experiences, the production, the transformation, and the consumption of local food became the engine of a larger spatial transformation, which involves social, economic, and cultural aspects. Starting from the lessons learned from these projects, the paper concludes by outlining scenarios for the role of the territorial project in a post-covid future. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

Emerging responses to the COVID-19 crisis from family farming and the agroecology movement in Latin America - A rediscovery of food, farmers and collective action.

CONTEXT: In Latin America, the so-called informal sector associated with family farming and the agroecology movements were instrumental at coping with and adapting to the COVID-19 challenges. OBJECTIVE: To assess the nature and extent of the early initiatives (first three months) deployed by this informal sector to cope with and adapt to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on food production and consumption in several countries of the region. METHODS: We used key used informant consultation (n = 168), an online survey (n = 125) and the detailed characterisation of regional case studies (n = 4). Textual data was analysed and categorised using Reinert's method, combined with similarity analysis. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: 65% of the initiatives were 'local' in terms of geographic reach, 30% of them started within the first month after the pandemic and most of them were urban or urban-rural, whereas only 29% of them were exclusively rural. The analysis of the textual information captured through the survey revealed four major types of initiatives that were deployed or adapted in response to COVID-19:1.Direct producer-to-consumer food sales, generally existing before the COVID-19 crisis but adapted/strengthened to cope with it;2.Short value chains that linked rural and urban organisations and individuals supported by national or local governments, readapted through new health and safety protocols;3.Newly developed support and training programs on sustainable food production for self-consumption or local commerce, in rural, urban or peri-urban settings;4.Food assistance and aid initiatives focusing on vulnerable populations, relying on solidarity networks associated with the agroecological movement. SIGNIFICANCE: The pandemic highlighted the key role played by local food systems and value chains and the need to strengthening them through public policies, as a way to build food resilience in times of crisis.

The role of food science and technology in humanitarian response.

BACKGROUND: In humanitarian contexts, ensuring access to safe, nutritious, good quality and culturally appropriate food in the right quantity at the right time and place during an emergency or a protracted crisis is an enormous challenge, which is likely to increase given uncertainties such as climate change, global political and economic instability and emerging pandemics like COVID-19. Several international organizations and non-government organizations have well established systems to respond to food security emergencies. However, the role of food science and technology in humanitarian response is not well understood and is seldom considered in humanitarian circles. SCOPE AND APPROACH: The role of food science and technology in humanitarian response and the importance of addressing the requirements of the local consumers within the local food systems are discussed. KEY FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: Humanitarian food aid policies focus on immediate and short-term assistance to save lives. The implementation of emergency programs and projects tends to induce dependency on aid, rather than strengthening local food systems and ensuring resilience. Transformative change must embrace innovation across the whole food system with an increased emphasis on food science and technology that addresses local food security, generates employment and contributes to the local economy. There needs to be a move beyond rehabilitating and increasing agricultural production to addressing the whole food system with a view to link humanitarian assistance and longer-term support to sustainable livelihoods and resilience.