LIBRI DI FAUSTO CANTARELLI

The challenges for a sustainable agro food system development in Italy and even beyond: The process of globalization and liberalization of markets has in place a number of new competitive scenarios and outlined new paths for sustainable economic development. These processes of change have been dictated primarily by the emergence of new social sensitivities related to the environment and to the health-nutrition-wellness report by the postmodern consumer, that concerned mostly businesses and food industry. The nutrition-health relationship, climate change, the depletion of natural resources, destruction of the landscape, the loss of the identity and rural history, are issues that have gained a central role in determining the "quality of life" and the socio-economic and territorial balance, affecting substantially on purchase and consumption behavior and on the rediscovery of the Mediterranean Diet. In particular, and especially for food products, it is increasingly asserting a consumer style health-oriented models that are referring to the culture of the Mediterranean diet, which is not only healthy products linked to specific areas of origin and technical specifications processing. Today the consumer is more and more interested, to know the origin of the product and / or the raw material, its link with the territory of reference, the production process, the distance from the place of production, the protection of human rights, biodiversity, animal welfare, etc. This new consumer behavior has created a theoretical and institutional debate aimed at identifying regulatory and business approaches inspired more and more to the logic of economic sustainability of development processes. The main task of the paper, therefore, is to offer a series of reflections on the issue, highlighting the centrality and also the contributions in the field of scientific societies.

The valorization of the typical and traditional products meets difficulty for the lacked organization of the producers; therefore a useful method can be the use of the field plan, where all the producers are involved in several shapes of collective communication. The article introduces the experiment made in the field of the balsamic vinegars of Modena and Reggio Emilia, the traditional ones with high quality and small volume of supply and the not traditional ones with medium quality and big volume of supply. These last ones have developed a turnover of 400 billions per year, of which approximately the 80% in countries with advanced economy. The proposed solution previews to define the two provincial territories as "Acetaia d’Italia" in order to promote the vinegars also with the role of haulage of the other local typical products, that are numerous and with high-quality. In order to impose the brand it has been dedicated the year 2000 to the balsamic vinegars.

A pre-requisite of the dynamic market is the widespread use of advertising, which is within the reach of large companies, while small ones have to incur excessive costs; this market is characterised by an excess of supply over demand, so that foods which are not advertised are difficult to place on the market and when they are placed, they are penalised in terms of their price, as in the case of typical products with a small volume of supply. These mechanisms, and advertising in particular, have driven companies to increase the size of their business, in order to benefit from economies of scale, and the markets to enlarge surfaces extended as far as globalisation. Large companies and large markets orient production towards standard foods that do not come up against local discrimination, as happens for those that are typical of a particular area. For typical products, it is necessary to develop the concentration of demand, increase the level of food culture and organise the markets so that demand always exceeds supply in order to get back to acceptable prices.

Cheese produced on pasture land by shepherds has its own distinctive flavour characterised by the vegetal substances present that enhance its quality. However, the market is not cognisant of this because producers are not able to play an active role in the market and make this special trait known. Within the context of the divergence between globalization and local interests, the distinctiveness of these cheeses could prove important and become one of the factors in reinforcing the price of cheeses produced out-of-doors, if producers could improve product image, consolidate production and distribute it on the market in accordance with existing norms, as the food industry does. The rediscovery of these cheeses is especially important at this time because it could contribute to the development of tourism.

Goat-ewe’s milk cheeses are traditional food products of antique origin, characterized by low volumes on offer and, therefore, excluded from the global market. These products also come up against serious difficulties at the local level where they are always underrated because of the lack of a commercial organization for the producers and, in particular, because the offer is not concentrated. When Italian goat-ewe’s milk cheeses arrive on the market, they are left to themselves and their prices fall. Industrial products, on the other hand, have the advantage of sales promotion and their prices rise. The long-term danger is that the producers, underpaid for their sacrifices, will give-up stock farming.

The "Agro Nocerino sarnese" is in an extraordinary rural position between the coastlines of Naples and Salerno and boasts extremely fertile soil. Unfortunately the high population density and intensive farming with high levels of fruit and vegetable production, in particular tomatoes, together with the presence of preserved food and pickling industries have led to high levels of environmental degradation which compromise further economic development. The path to follow, therefore, proposes the restoration of the rural environment and foods, the archaeological sites and ancient monuments in order to be able to start the relaunch of actions to promote production which can easily be achieved because of the rich resources of the area.