Search

This study delves into the complex ways in which narratives about food function as mediums for conveying nationalist and racist ideologies, highlighting a broad view that encompasses discriminatory ideologies like xenophobia, nativism, suprematism, and protectionism. Given the pivotal role of food in cultural identity and symbolism – a role particularly pronounced in the rich food heritage of Italian culture – this research offers profound insights into the subtle manifestations of nationalism and racism within the context of Italian food culture. Employing semi-structured interviews with thirty individuals from diverse backgrounds in the Italian food sector, including production, preparation, and distribution, the study unveils that expressions of nationalism and racism often stem from a deep-seated impulse to defend and protect Italian cultural heritage. However, the investigation also uncovers the inherent ambiguities and contradictions in these attitudes, illustrating how nationalist and racist sentiments are frequently set aside in efforts to promote and globalize Italian culinary traditions. This paradox underscores the complex and often contradictory nature of cultural nationalism and racism, challenging the consistency of such ideological stances in the face of globalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spread of biodistricts (BDs) in Italy covers approximately 30% of the national territory. Their emergence is driven by specific local reasons and broader motivations, such as a favorable political climate and improved access to health and local food for all citizens. The rapid development of BDs has sparked significant interest from national and regional legislation, as well as from scientific and gray literature. However, there remain ongoing debates regarding the criteria for defining and identifying BD, the appropriate governance models to adopt, and the scope of their functions, particularly in relation to market and supply chain development. A three-round Delphi study was conducted to address these controversial issues and achieve expert consensus on the characteristics and potential direction for BDs as policy actors aligned with their mission. Beginning with a set of 12 open questions, the final round of the survey focused on the definition of BDs, their resilience in times of crisis, and their market strategies. According to the respondents, the specificity of BDs lies more in their functions than in their structural and organizational characteristics (such as the concentration of organic farming or the presence of a structured supply chain). Nevertheless, these structural elements must be pursued as objectives to enable meaningful territorial actions by leveraging local social capital. In this context, fostering interaction between producers and consumers and meeting local demand should be central to BD strategy. However, this does not preclude the possibility of entering national and international markets, especially when it supports the enhancement of local supply chains. Recent crises have served as a testing ground for BD governance, revealing that resilience is closely tied to the organizational maturity of the BDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of heat waves on the productivity of the Italian food industry. Using daily weather and firm‐level data for the 2004–2019 period, we show that a heat wave causes, on average, a reduction in Total Factor Productivity (TFP) of about 3.2%. Smaller firms are more severely affected, with a reduction of approximately 7%, revealing unequal impacts within the same country and sector. The reduction in TFP can be partially attributed to lower workers' productivity, with labour input increased in order to compensate for productivity loss. The estimated effect is heterogeneous across subsectors, with some well‐known Italian products (e.g., wine production) more severely affected by heat waves. These findings have significant policy implications due to the expected increase in the frequency of heat waves caused by climate change, and are particularly important in the case of the Italian food industry, which is mainly composed of small firms. The paper highlights the need to investigate further the impacts of heat stress on the entire food system, as most of the literature has predominantly focused on the agricultural sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the counter-narratives regarding sexist and heteronormative content that characterizes Italian food culture. Data was collected from 21 qualitative interviews with participants who are active in various sectors of food production, distribution, and consumption. The findings show that four main counter-narratives, all based on personal experiences, represent narrative resistance to oppressive and marginalizing views of women and homosexuals. Specifically, 1) women's refusal to be heavily involved with food acquisition and preparation, thus removing these activities from the woman's domain; 2) women's attempts to make their domestic cooking public, breaking the boundaries of women's cooking as a family oriented activity; 3) men's reformulation of masculinity as also a construct that can be gained through cooking at home for their children and 4) the awareness that homosexuals are an essential enrichment for Italian food culture. In addition to explaining how counter-narratives contrast sexism and heteronormativity in Italian food and wine culture, this contribution presents considerations about how these counter-narratives are produced and how they compare to those that operate in other cultural contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild vegetables (WVs) have been an essential source of human nutrition since ancient times. Foraging is a millennia-old practice that has gained more attention recently and is becoming fashionable, especially in restaurants in urban areas, as they attract customers who see WVs as an innovative sensory element and specialty food. Some cooks have used very few WVs for decades, but most chefs have only recently introduced them in their modern restaurants. Our study aims to have a deeper understanding of the diversity of WVs used by restaurants in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy and to know how they are introduced onto different menus, as well as the source of knowledge and the innovation paths related to the use/introduction of WVs in the selected sample of restaurants. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 restaurant managers, chefs, and their professional foragers in the Lombardy region in Northern Italy in 2022; fifty-four wild plant taxa were recorded to be used in the considered restaurants. The collected data were analyzed to understand the current situation and the potential developments of this practice by exploring the reasons/motivations that underpin the inclusion of WVs in restaurants. A broad spectrum of restaurants was considered to evaluate the potential differences in handling and sourcing these ingredients. The results demonstrated that this trend has mainly been driven by attempts to revitalize traditional cuisines and to generate a positive impact on health, but the actual culinary preparations based upon WVs are often original and remarkably diverge from the Italian food ethnobotanical heritage. Moreover, concerns related to the environmental sustainability of these practices have been addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Escherichia coli can harbor a broad repertoire of virulence and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) genes, which can be exchanged across the human gastrointestinal microflora, thus posing a public health risk. In this study, 6 batches of artisanal soft cheese and a 6-month ripened fermented dried sausage were investigated to assess the occurrence, phylogeny, and genomic traits (AMR, virulence, and mobilome) of E. coli. 30 and 3 strains isolated from salami and cheese food chains, respectively, were confirmed as E. coli by whole genome sequencing. The accumulation of single nucleotide polymorphism differences within small clusters of strains encompassing batches or processing stages, combined with high serotype and phylogroup diversity, suggested the occurrence of different contamination phenomena among the facilities. A total of 8 isolates harbored plasmid-mediated resistance genes, including one cheese strain that carried an IncQ1 plasmid carrying AMR determinants to macrolides [mph(B)], sulfonamides (sul1, sul2), trimethoprim (dfrA1), and aminoglycosides [aph(3")-Ib and aph(6)-Id]. A pool of virulence-associated genes in the class of adhesion, colonization, iron uptake, and toxins, putative ColV-positive iron uptake systems sit, iro, or iuc (8 salami and 2 cheese), plasmid-encoded hemolysin operon hlyABCD (one salami), and potential atypical enteropathogenic E. coli (3 salami environment) were reported. Overall, our findings underscore the importance of routine surveillance of E. coli in the artisanal food chain to prevent the dissemination of AMR and virulence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Jewish-Roman cuisine, the traditional food of one of Europe's longest-standing Jewish communities, is among Italy's most distinctive hyper-local repertoires. Gastronomes increasingly acknowledge the importance of Jewish foodways for Italian cuisine, but a few famous "signature dishes" often dominate popular ideas of Jewish food in Italy. In Rome, carciofi alla giudìa – deep-fried "Jewish-style" artichokes – have long been used to symbolize the diverse and complex Jewish-Roman tradition. Blending ethnographic methods with discourse analysis, I ask how and why carciofi alla giudìa occupy this role, and what this means for contemporary Jewish-Roman identity. I then examine a selection of "origin stories" behind other dishes in the Jewish-Roman tradition, arguing that going beyond the near-ubiquitous artichoke can complicate and enrich our understanding of Jewish-Roman history, culture, and identity. Rather than attempting to prove or disprove these stories, I analyze them as tools for self-fashioning. I identify a variety of characteristics that these narratives are used to communicate: including ancient roots; resilience and resourcefulness; and an openness to new arrivals and external influences. Finally, I interrogate the relationship between the Jewish-Roman tradition and the city's cuisine at large, arguing that this too has important repercussions for Roman and Jewish-Roman self-perception and identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Review of: Pasta, Pizza and Propaganda: A Political History of Italian Food TV, Francesco Buscemi (2022) Bristol: Intellect, 170 pp., ISBN 978-1-78938-406-2, h/bk, £85.00 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we introduce an innovative application of clustering algorithms to assess and appraise Italy's alignment with respect to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on those related to climate change and the agrifood market. Specifically, we examined SDG 02: Zero Hunger, SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production, and SDG 13: Climate Change, to evaluate Italy's performance in one of its most critical economic sectors. Beyond performance analysis, we administered a questionnaire to a cross-section of the Italian populace to gain deeper insights into their awareness of sustainability in everyday grocery shopping and their understanding of SDGs. Furthermore, we employed an unsupervised machine learning approach in our research to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of SDGs across European countries and position Italy relative to the others. Additionally, we conducted a detailed analysis of the responses to a newly designed questionnaire to gain a reasonable description of the population's perspective on the research topic. A general poor performance in the SDGs indicators emerged for Italy. However, from the questionnaire results, an overall significant interest in the sustainability of the acquired products from italian citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate whether technical efficiency is affected by family involvement in management, considering a sample of small and medium sized firms (SMEs) operating in the traditional manufacturing sector. A positive and significant relationship between family management and efficiency is found when adopting one-step procedures based on Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA). Furthermore, according to our results, local social capital seems to moderate the influence of the family involvement on the performance of firms, corroborating the idea that trust and reputational assets associated with family ties can compensate for the lack of cooperative behaviour and social networks characterizing some communities where firms operate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Featured Application: A detailed description of the products of interest is particularly interesting for trained descriptive panels that rely on specific descriptors and definitions. The effectiveness of the experimental method proposed could represent an important innovation toward the development of an official sensory standard for olive paté to increase global quality and certify the typicality of the product. It could be helpful for manufacturers to know the sensory characteristics of olive paté to make it competitive in the marketplace. This will also result in increased attention from consumers. The developed lexicon could also promote communication regarding product quality among sensory scientists and many stakeholders, such as product developers, marketing professionals, and suppliers. Olive paté is a traditional Italian food typical of the Mediterranean diet, derived from debittered, pitted, and crushed table olives. Currently, there is no sensory standard for the quality of the product. In this research, a specific lexicon and an innovative profile sheet for sensory analysis of olive paté have been developed and tested to fill the gap. The list of descriptors was set in terms of negative sensations, olfactory/gustatory sensations, and kinaesthetic attributes. The assessors of a professional panel were first trained with and then used the profile sheet to characterize 40 olive paté commercial samples from five different Olea europaea L. cultivars. From a sensorial point of view, Nocellara del Belice paté was perceived as the saltiest, Nocellara etnea as the bitterest, and Hojiblanca and Bella di Cerignola were the most balanced and characterized on the olfactory/gustatory level. In terms of texture, Hojiblanca paté is the most consistent and grainiest. To support and verify kinaesthetic descriptors, textural analysis by back extrusion was performed. Through the agglomerative hierarchical analysis, the various paté showed a clear clusterization into two clusters: Nocellara del Belice-Itrana and Hojblanca-Nocellara etnea-Bella di Cerignola. The results obtained showed the validity of the profile sheet to correctly assess the different products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild food plants are widely consumed all over the world and many have both nutritional and therapeutic value due to the presence of biologically active compounds. The present research, for the first time, aims to compare primary and secondary metabolite levels among different plant organs (flower, leaf, stem, root, bark) of seven species (Borago officinalis L., Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers., Foeniculum vulgare Mill., Hypericum perforatum L., Malva sylvestris L., Sambucus nigra L., Urtica dioica L.) collected in three different Italian regions (Liguria, Tuscany, Apulia). Plant organ samples were extracted with water or 95% (v/v) methanol and liquid fractions were analyzed using spectrophotometric assays. The best results were obtained for Hypericum perforatum L. samples, followed by Sambucus nigra L. and Borago officinalis L. As also confirmed via PCA analysis on normalized data, flower and leaf extracts of all species exhibited higher levels of polyphenols (up to 105.7 mg GA eq/gDW), reducing sugars (up to 389.2 mg GLUC eq/gDW), proteins (up to 675.7 mg BSA eq/gDW) and of antioxidant capacity (up to 263.5 mg AA eq/gDW). No differences among the regions of gathering were detected after spectrophotometric assays, which was confirmed via PCA analysis. These data contribute to further validate the traditionally reported healing effects of these species on human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the study of "Takeve", an Italian food delivery platform that employs only women. The research conducted by interviewing both the workers and the founders of this small platform provides an opportunity to re-discuss the business models of food delivery platforms. The aim is to understand how and in what ways it is possible to initiate a participatory and multi-stakeholder model in which opportunities for fair and decent work, business-to-business cooperation, and even dialogue between companies and institutions are created. Although the case presented is circumscribed and very limited in size, it seems to be a good example to reflect on the possibility of rethinking the model of food delivery platforms in a gendered perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, food-related policy initiatives have proliferated, such as food strategies, food plans, food councils, food districts and food communities, just to name the more relevant ones. Far from being systematically defined and logically systematized, these concepts often overlap or are used as synonyms. The paper has systematically traced the current trends showing how these concepts are used in the current debate, the theoretical background on which they are grounded and the public policies they call for, following a threefold approach: (1) a literature analysis to establish the state of academic research on food systems in its multidimensionality; (2) a review of the existing national legislation to detect the utilization of food policy-related lemmas in the normative; (3) a computational linguistic analysis applied on institutional documentation to explore how cities and territories are using concepts and definitions in the grey literature. The results show that the construction of narratives around the topic of food systems planning is experiencing a momentum, with particular emphasis on principles, background premises and governance aspects. In this context, the risk of marginality for the agricultural sector in such discourses and narratives is highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PAs) are secondary metabolites produced by over 6000 plant species worldwide. PAs enter the food chain through accidental co-harvesting of PA-containing weeds and through soil transfer from the living plant to surrounding acceptor plants. In animal studies, 1,2-unsaturated PAs have proven to be genotoxic carcinogens. According to the scientific opinion expressed by the 2017 EFSA, the foods with the highest levels of PA contamination were honey, tea, herbal infusions, and food supplements. Following the EFSA's recommendations, data on the presence of PAs in relevant food were monitored and collected. On 1 July 2022, the Commission Regulation (EU) 2020/2040 came into force, repealed by Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/915, setting maximum levels for the sum of pyrrolizidine alkaloids in certain food. A total of 602 food samples were collected from the Italian market between 2019 and 2022 and were classified as honey, pollen, dried tea, dried herbal infusions, dried herbs, and fresh borage leaves. The food samples were analyzed for their PA content via an in-house LC-MS/MS method that can detect PAs according to Regulation 2023/915. Overall, 42% of the analyzed samples were PA-contaminated, 14% exceeded the EU limits, and the items most frequently contaminated included dried herbs and tea. In conclusion, the number of food items containing considerable amounts of PAs may cause concern because they may contribute to human exposure, especially considering vulnerable populations—most importantly, children and pregnant women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How are devices changing our relationship with food? Do they help us to orient ourselves in a world where the production and circulation of commodities bring our certainties into question? In this paper I discuss food insecurity and develop on ethnographic research conducted in Tuscany (Italy) in a period running from 2016 to 2017. The aim of this research is to reflect on two aspects: first, the growing fear, insecurity and diffidence with regard to food in Italian society determined by the rise of global agribusiness, and the role devices play in mediating this relationship through self-tracking; and second, the analysis of these devices stemming from the idea of the orthorexic society, signs of which have been found in beliefs and policies regarding food throughout Italy for more than 30 years, often summarized in the famous Slow Food slogan "good, clean and fair." I studied how relationships with food are changing via the use of devices and digital technologies, and I assert that apparatuses and devices have become mediators between us and food. My research paints a picture in which people are produced as subjects through a series of devices that determine choices and behaviors, changing their perception of food. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European capital cities are replete with material traces of colonial times, not only institutional reminders but also ephemeral objects, created to glorify colonial domination. Reactions of descendants of former colonisers to these traces suggest that colonial tropes are still present in their contemporary imaginary about the past. A comprehensive effort of decolonisation, therefore, needs to aim not only at including previously despised minorities, but also at raising majorities' awareness about the aggressive side of leaving the permanence of material traces of colonialism unquestioned. Moreover, this awareness of implications of material traces could help to redesign European physical contexts to become more welcoming places for descendants of former colonised groups. Our research explores reactions of different generations of descendants of Italian colonisers when presented with an ephemeral trace of past violence—a candy still sold with a colonial wrapping. About 175 participants were presented with the image of the candy, either wrapped in its original colonial package or a neutral one. The image was followed either by a brief explanation of its colonial meaning or not. Reactions to such an apparently inconspicuous reminder of the Italian colonial crimes—still self-censored in the social representations of the Italian national past—proved to vary across experimental conditions and different ages of respondents. In particular, when questioning these ephemeral traces of adult participants show more intense group-based negative moral emotions. Relations between the generational renewal of former colonisers' group and collective elaboration of intergroup violence are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Big Night (1996), one of the earliest American examples of a food film, is comprised of two distinct but intertwined aesthetics. One involves immigrant restaurateur brothers, Primo (Tony Shaloub) and Secondo (Stanley Tucci), and another involves a competing establishment run by conniving Pascal (Ian Holm). Tucci and Scott use mise en scéne and camera work to portray the spectacle of food as a corollary to authenticity. Primo and Secondo’s restaurant focuses on offering genuine Italian food from their childhoods while Pascal’s restaurant is all about showmanship, not food. Tucci and Scott film each restaurant in starkly different ways to link the identity to the spectacle of food. Unlike much of the dialogue which concerns business and uneasy personal relationships, spectacle in Big Night focuses on food. While the main narrative strand explores character tensions, much of the running time and screen space showcases Italian food being prepared, eaten, and enjoyed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite Neapolitan pizza is a globally renowned Italian food, its obligatory baking in wood-fired ovens has so far received little attention in the scientific community. Since heat transfer during pizza baking is not at all uniform, the main aim of this work was to analyze the phenomenology of Neapolitan pizza baking in a pilot-scale wood-fired pizza oven operating in quasi steady-state conditions. The different upper area sections of pizza covered or not by the main topping ingredients (i.e., tomato puree, sunflower oil, or mozzarella cheese), as well the bottom of the pizza and the growth of its raised rim, were characterized by visual colorimetric analysis, while the time course of their corresponding temperatures was monitored using an infrared thermal scanning camera. The maximum temperature of the pizza bottom was equal to 100 ± 9 °C, while that of the upper pizza side ranged from 182 °C to 84 or 67 °C in the case of white pizza, tomato pizza, or margherita pizza, respectively, mainly because of their diverse moisture content and emissivity. The pizza weight loss was nonlinearly related to the average temperature of the upper pizza side. The formation of brown or black colored areas on the upper and lower sides of baked pizza was detected with the help of an electronic eye. The upper side exhibited greater degrees of browning and blackening than the lower one, their maximum values being about 26 and 8%, respectively, for white pizza. These results might help develop a specific modelling and monitoring strategy to reduce variability and maximize the quality attributes of Neapolitan pizza. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between Uruguay and Italy has its roots in the migratory flows that began around the middle of the 19th century and continued until after the Second World War, resulting in large numbers of immigrants to the small South American country. Montevideo has a lively community of tanos, no longer children but grandchildren or great-grandchildren, many of whom apply for Italian citizenship based on ius sanguinis. Starting from the life stories of some Italo-Uruguayans, the essay deals with some key themes relating to the construction of their identity: the relationship with Italian food and the Italian language, family ties and the rituals of domestic life, the memory of migration, the journeys made to their ancestors' places of origin in the course of which Italy as an ancestral land is configured above all as a territory of the imagination. All these are spaces in which the terms of individual and family group identity are negotiated, identities that are fluid and changing. Finally, the dialogue with descendants reveals the reasons that led them to apply for Italian citizenship, reasons that are emotional, historical, social, political, and related to justice. From a citizenship point of view, the family practices of the descendants of Italians are configured as strategies of legitimation and the memory of migration in this context becomes a resource activated to act concretely in history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]