Food Policies and Planning

1. Pisa Food Plan
Elaborating food policies
October 21 - 23, 2014
Turin
Vanessa Malandrin, Research Fellow
University of Pisa
Forum Origin, Diversity and Territories
Multiple perspectives on quality and origin

2. GPP and food provisioning
Food and Beverage: 20–30% of the most significative
environmental impacts in Europe (EU Commission, 2006)
SW (Malmö), UK, DK, NL: many PA in EU are
developing policies for more sustainable models in
public food provision

How?? Organic products, sustainable fishery,
less meat, less packaging, better logistic for
transports
Italy: The Ministry of Environment defined the “Minimum
environmental criteria” for Collective Food Catering
Services (2011)
Regional laws and guidelines for the introduction of
organic, seasonal and SFSC products + Mediterranean

3. Tuscan regional laws

Regional Law 18/2002 to foster the use of
organic products in canteens

PRAF 2011, measure A.2.7

a) In the firts year max 60% of contribution
to cover the additional costs

b) max 90% of contribution to organize
courses for food education

Minimum 50% of the total products used
must be organic

4. Best Practices: Bagno a Ripoli, Florence
Strong effort on local food
provisioning
26.000 inhabitants; peri-urban and rural area
in the outskirts of Florence = 2100 school
meals a day
SIAF: 52% public + 48% private partnership.
School and hospital meals (2 mln meals per
year)
2004: The Municipality invited local farmers to
produce for school canteens
Local producers started a strong collaboration
and production planning

5. Best Practices: Bagno a Ripoli, Florence
Results
25% of provision is local; the rural area interested is
55 Ha, or 136 acres
They invited the local farmers involved to turn organic
Strong effort for communication: children, parents +
teachers; cooking laboratories; waste monitoring!!
Frequent changes in the menu to adapt to
seasonality
School meal system awarded by Slow Food (2008)
“Dream Canteen”

6. Promotion and communication initiatives
Children and parents can meet in front of the school the
producers supplying the canteen, and buy their products

7. Learning processes
?

8. SFSC in Pisa school meals

* According to seasonality and availability on the territory: if the
tuscan organic product is not available, national organic products
will be provided (for instance oranges)

9. Challenges
 Financial: PA pays too late the small
producers
 Over or under production: other
destinations for extra products are
needed, as clear alternatives when the
products are missing
 Working with local products has higher
costs for processing (non standardized)
 Need to balance extra costs and savings

10. … and threats

July 25th 2012: new agreement between
MIUR and Federalimentare, to promote food
education in schools

Food security and calories are the main
aspects highlighted in the protocol

No attention to local products and to the
agricultural world

Visits to food industries instead of farm visits

11. Background

Tuscany focus on local food and rural
development

Intense activity of support of short food
chains

Municipalities' involvement

Lively purchasing consumers’ groups

Academic attention beyond specialists

A forward looking (ex) politician

Interest of the (ex) Regional Development
Agency ARSIA

12. Initiatives in Pisa

School procurement; fruit in the schools

Sustainable fairs & sustainable shoppers

0 Km restaurants

Workshops on sustainable food

Slow Food & school vegetable gardens

Centro nuovo modello di Sviluppo

Farmers markets

GAS purchasing consumers' groups

Internet Festival, Go Green (Rural Hub)

Seed savers

13. There is a need for integration
Communication
Information system
Research
Training
Targets
Municipal policies
Regional interventions & plans
Local Health Systems
Culture through food
= Teamwork puzzle work!

14. Food Policy = ?
How policy-making shapes who eats, what, when and
how, and whith which consequences
But.. how to start a new field of policy
making in times of economic crisis and
budget cuts??

15. Food planning: which steps?

Collecting informations

Setting goals

Circulating informations

Coordinating efforts

Mobilising resources

16. From theory to practice
It has been defined a program agreement with public
bodies of the territory willing to collaborate, in order to
fulfill the goals set by the Pisa Food Plan & food chart .
Cisanello Food Policy Council: based on the food chart, is
promoting actions and events in Pisa; meeting once a
month; working groups; collaboration with University for
EXPO 2015;
Civic Farms: survey and database; charter of principles
Next: pathways on health + childhood professionals willing
to start educational programs on food

17. Meeting for Civic Farms

18. The Pisa Food Chart: which goals?
To build a city that supports sustainable food
patterns
Rethinking the urban food system in order to
ensure food security and food safety
Enhance sustainable diets and their link with health
and environment
Identify the obstacles to sustainable diets
Food democracy: increase citizens' ability to
participate in decision making, to be informed
and to monitor the rules' application.
To support local farmers in multiple ways
…. Quite ambitious isn't it??!!

19. .. and how we get there?

Thematic meetings
• Network of academics
• Network of civil society
• Network of health operators
• Network of local administrators
• Network of food enterprises

School food commissions

Pianodelcibo web 2.0

20. Untapped resources

Academics

Students
(50.000; 90.000 inhabitants in Pisa)

Voluntary work

Web activists

Parents

21. Trascinare l'immagine su un
segnaposto o fare clic
sull'icona per aggiungerla
Pianodelcibo web 2.0 - The website
 http://pianodelcibo.ning.com/
http://pianodelcibo.ning.com/page/what-is-it

22. Pianodelcibo web 2.0

Sharing resources (photo, video, events,
bibliography)

Documenting activity

Activating forums

Keeping networks alive

23. Reflections

Food planning as social innovation /
social learning

The relevance of distributed
knowledge / the role of brokering

Hacking the food system
The role of web democracy

Market alone won’t work / The role of
social capital

24. References (1)

Bocchi, S., Spigarolo, R., Marcomini, N., & Sarti, V. (2008).
Bioforsk Report Organic and conventional public food
procurement for youth in Italy, 3(42).

European Commission (2011) Buying Green, a handbook on
green public procurement, Second edition, Brussels.

European Commission (2006). Analysis of the life cycle
environmental impacts related to the final consumption of the
EU25, Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) Institute for Prospective
Technological Studies, Annex report May 2006.

Morgan, K., Sonnino, R. (2007). Empowering consumers: the
creative procurement of school meals in Italy and the UK,
International Journal of Consumer Studies. Vol. 31, Issue 1, pages
19–25.

25. References (2)

Sonnino, R. (2009). Quality food, public procurement, and
sustainable development: the school meal revolution in Rome.
Environment and Planning, volume 41, pages 425-440.

Sonnino, R., & Marsden, T. (2006). Beyond the divide:
rethinking relationships between alternative and
conventional food networks in Europe. Journal of Economic
Geography, 6(2), 181-199.

United Nations (2008). Public Procurement as a tool for
promoting more Sustainable Consumption and Production
patterns. Issue 5, August 2008. Available at:
http://esa.un.org/marrakechprocess/pdf/InnovationBriefs_no5.pdf

26. Thank you!
Contacts:
Vanessa Malandrin
Vanessa.malandrin@for.unipi.it