Search results for "Food systems"
showing 10 items of 63 documents
Marketing strategy, social responsibility, and value chain in the agri-food system
2020
The agri-food sector has changed significantly over the years, moving from a simple production system to a more and more industrialized one. For agents/operators involved in this sector, ensuring product quality and environmental externalities has become the key point to gaining a competitive advantage. In this context, corporate social responsibility (CSR) fits perfectly. This study analyzes the influence of CSR practices on the economic performance of a random sample of 130 agri-food companies in Italy. The results of an analysis of multiple linear regression models show that the economic performance (measured through value added and income) of agri-food enterprises seems to be influenced…
Current and future strategies to reduce salt consumption
2020
Abstract The development of healthier lifestyles is of great importance in modern societies. Due to the increasingly sedentarism of population, our current diets need to be adapted to reduce the consumption of salt, fats, and sugar to prevent chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular, and respiratory diseases, among others. For example, salt consumption is increasing considerably worldwide, which has been accompanied by the increased rates of heart disease incidence, mainly in developed countries. The food industry is making considerable efforts to provide lower salt food with similar taste, texture, and shelf-life as conventional food to promote not only healthier consumpt…
Innovation for the Italian agricultural and food industry sector
2020
The food industry is one of the largest energy consumers in the world, with 95 EJ/year. In this context, in Europe the amount of energy needed to cultivate, process, package and bring food to the homes of citizens reached 285 Mtoe in 2015, of which 14 Mtoe due to the Italian agricultural and food system. With the aim of favoring a drastic reduction in energy consumption, the European Commission, and the main international agencies, ie: FAO, OECD, UN over the last decade have aligned on the need to develop policies to support energy efficiency, renewable energies and sustainable technologies in order to minimize the use of fossil fuels and to reduce the final energy consumption, especially i…
The impact of COVID-19 on alternative and local food systems and the potential for the sustainability transition: Insights from 13 countries
2021
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stress test for the agri-food system. While most research has analysed the impact of the pandemic on mainstream food systems, this article examines how alternative and local food systems (ALFS) in 13 countries responded in the first months of the crisis. Using primary and secondary data and combining the Multi-Level Perspective with social innovation approaches, we highlight the innovations and adaptations that emerged in ALFS, and how these changes have created or supported the sustainability transition in production and consumption systems. In particular, we show how the combination of social and technological innovation, greater citizen involvement,…
Economía social y dinámica innovadora en los sistemas territoriales de producción y de innovación. Especial referencia a los sistemas agroalimentarios
2008
Las cooperativas desarrollan su actividad económica de acuerdo con unos principios que pueden alimentar el crecimiento de una trama de relaciones socio-económicas (capital relacional) y socio-políticas (capital social) propicias, a su vez, para generar la confianza que requiere la cooperación entre empresas y entre éstas y el sistema científico-tecnológico. Así se podría facilitar la creación de la proximidad organizada (relacional) necesaria para dotar de fluidez a las relaciones entre actores distintos dentro de los sistemas territoriales de producción y de innovación. Pero la presencia de una amplia red de cooperativas también podría definir ciertas inercias y factores de bloqueo. Este a…
Insights into food system exposure, coping capacity and adaptive capacity
2017
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the concepts of exposure, coping capacity and adaptive capacity as a multiple structure of vulnerability in order to distinguish and interpret short-term coping responses and long-term strategic responses to food system vulnerability. Design/methodology/approach This paper applies an abductive approach for qualitative analysis of data, which were collected through 18 semi-structured interviews among Finnish food system actors. Findings The findings suggest that coping capacity and adaptive capacity are indeed two different concepts, which both need to be addressed in the examination of food system vulnerability. Public and private food syste…
Transfer of Water and Volatiles at Interfaces: Application to Complex Food Systems
2013
International audience; During processing, storage and consumption, mass transfer of various small molecules (water, gases, flavour compounds or other solutes) occurs between the different phases in complex food products, or between complex food and its surroundings. These mass transfers can lead to physical or chemical changes and thus induce food quality modifications.The objective of this paper is to better understand the behaviour of small molecules at the interfaces, especially in model heterogeneous food systems. Different techniques have been designed to characterize mass transfers of these small molecules and their effects on food properties. In particular, techniques such as rotati…
Food traditions and consumer preferences for cured meats: Role of information in geographical indications
2021
Abstract Growth and development are two economic concepts that should go hand in hand. In a specific territory, the search for sustainable development is intertwined with the objectives of private operators but also with the public ones of collective well-being. As we know from the economic literature, the presence of information asymmetries leads to market failure as sustainability in the production of food products determines positive externalities that are not adequately remunerated. In this work some evolutionary trends in the demand for cured meats are analyzed, highlighting the relevant innovations introduced by sustainable consumption. Faced with this evolution of demand, with consum…
Stakeholder perceptions of alternative food entrepreneurs
2009
This paper focuses on rural entrepreneurs' perceptions of their stakeholders with respect to their influence towards the economic success of farms and environmental issues, as well as their trustworthiness. There is special emphasis on the comparison of perceptions between suppliers of alternative food supply chains and suppliers of conventional supply chains. Survey research, with a final sample size of 522 rural entrepreneurs in Central Finland, was used as a research method. The results showed that 28% of the respondents could be defined as alternative food entrepreneurs. Significant differences between alternative and conventional food entrepreneurs were related to perceptions towards c…
La filiera siciliana della pasta: un'applicazione della netchain analysis
2016
The system of Sicilian durum wheat is facing, as indeed is happening to the entire food system, the evolution of consumption patterns toward higher quality requirements: health-wise, primarily, but also including some intangible requirements. Recent acquisitions in the field of healthy food, have called attention to some specific characteristics of Sicilian durum wheat. The durum wheat sector represents a major landmark for regional agriculture, being by far the most widespread arable crop in Sicily; a crop that, over the past 30 years, has evolved considerably, due to the impact of EU regulations. Currently, the whole Sicilian cereal-pasta chain shows shortcomings in organization and size,…