That more than half of the world's population has chosen to live in cities is not news.
That this number is destined to grow we know.
The news now is that cities will no longer be as nourished as before, or rather that more and more (and fortunately) are increasing those who are questioning and looking for methods and strategies to ensure that our cities have healthy, good and environmentally friendly food.
The Eating City project represents a fine 'example of those who are beginning to raise the issue.
Quite simply, Eating City is a network of entities, organizations, foundations and economic entities that, by studying and sharing experiences, aims to solve and understand how to transform urban agriculture into a system of economic and social development. A learning community that learns from itself.
How to achieve this goal was discussed in one of the conferences that opened the Salone del Gusto and Terra Madre program, where some experiences of how to feed our cities were presented.
First point: educate and inform, make it clear that food is not just a mere commodity, reiterate its economic and social value, make consumers aware that they can steer the market without being subjected to its choices, in close collaboration with producers.
Slow Food has put its finger on it and in Milan has launched educational programs for schools, farmers and citizens with the project "Feeding Milan, energies for change," launched in 2009. The starting point was precisely the surrounding agricultural area, ignored by citizens. The farmers' markets provided an opportunity to bring the countryside into the city, as well as a privileged meeting place between producers and citizens.
The result? Many more people have had the opportunity to deepen sensory experiences related to taste and learn how, where and when the food they take home every day is produced. And perhaps to understand more about the reasons for the cost attributed. In Beijing, the farmers' market was a response to 'the need to create an outlet for the many young farmers who have returned to the countryside precisely with the 'intention of practicing sustainable, environmentally friendly agriculture. A revolutionary rural movement in a nation like China, which on 7 percent of the world's arable land uses 35 percent of the pesticides consumed globally. The market is the ideal space where farmers can establish relationships, explain their production choices, the difficulties and high costs involved that deserve a fair return. An important moment to make people understand how a low price entails high costs, both environmental and social.
Creating awareness and empowering citizens, making them an active part of a process of transformation and change, is also what emerges from the Norwegian experience of the city of Stavanger, where urban gardens have taken the place of industries and factories.
In Scotland, on the other hand, we have a fine example of how a movement that started from below has found the support of institutions that have initiated enlightened food policies. Institutions thus play a key role in spreading food culture, just think of the weight of the public in mass catering, which in Europe is 70 percent. It seems clear how governance at all levels can positively influence the supply chain, create new jobs from 'urban agriculture and make healthy and good food accessible to cities.
Vanna Sedda
vannasedda@gmail.com
