Food, sustainability and cooperation between cities
La City of Rome hosted the Thematic Networking Event of the European programme IURC North America, dedicated to the theme “Rome's Food Policy: Striving for a Sustainable, Holistic, and Inclusive Regional Food System”.”.
The initiative, funded by the European Union under the International Urban and Regional Cooperation (IURC), brought together representatives of 18 cities from the European Union, the United States and Canada to discuss models and strategies of sustainable and inclusive urban food policies.
During the first day, held in Valentini Palace, an international discussion was held on the food policies, food security and urban agriculture, with contributions from experts, administrators and representatives of cooperatives and associations in the area.
At the opening, the Vice President of ANCI Lazio, Riccardo Varone, he recalled the central role of Rome and its metropolitan area in the European agricultural landscape:
“It is an honour for ANCI Lazio to be part of such a qualified international debate on a topic that has accompanied the very history of Rome for over two thousand years. Our capital is the most agricultural city in Europe, with over 400 square kilometres of agricultural land in the municipal area alone, a heritage that becomes even more significant when extended to the metropolitan area and the entire Lazio Region.
Events such as this one show how important it is to share experiences and good practices in order to build sustainable food policies capable of guaranteeing access for all to quality food, produced locally and in an environmentally friendly way.”
During the day, experiences and good practices were shared by representatives from Canada, United States, Spain, Portugal and Sweden, who illustrated their models of community gardens, agricultural cooperatives and social regeneration projects.
The Councillor for Agriculture, Environment and Waste Cycle of Roma Capitale, Sabrina Alfonsi, stressed how the World Food Day and the IURC event provide an opportunity to reaffirm the value of food policies as instruments of social justice and environmental sustainability:
“It is a moment of reflection on the fundamental right to food and the importance of global collaboration to build a sustainable future. Rome recognises the crucial role that food policies play in the collective wellbeing and health of the planet. Our recent recognition as the best city to support local food encourages us to continue on this path, reaffirming that the right to food is a matter of social justice, but also an ethical and political imperative.”
The second day, Friday 17 October, was dedicated to a field study visit, which involved international delegates at the Garibaldi Agricultural Cooperative and the Spinaceto Urban Park - OrtoNove, virtuous examples of community gardens and redeveloped social spaces born thanks to the collaboration between citizens, institutions and associations.
In particular, OrtoNove, which began as a self-managed space and is now recognised by the Municipality IX of Roma Capitale, hosts over 150 families and has become a place of aggregation, environmental education and civic participation, with communal facilities, workshops, an events area and a self-managed weather station.
In the course of the day, ANCI Lazio also brought a selection of De.Co. (Denomination of Communal Origin) products, to enhance the link between food, territory and local identity.
Among the products presented: the Tiella di Gaeta, the Gran Cacio di Morolo, the Bread of Velletri, the Maranola sausage with coriander, the Poli wine doughnuts and the Cooked ham in Cori wine, concrete examples of the agri-food richness and food and wine tradition of the municipalities of Lazio.
The programme IURC North America, funded by the European Union, promotes cooperation between European, Canadian and US cities to foster the exchange of knowledge and best practices on sustainable urban development issues.
The Rome initiative fits in with the objectives of the’Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development, of the Paris Pact and the’United Nations Urban Agenda, confirming the role of the capital and the cities of Lazio as protagonists in the construction of more equitable, resilient and participatory food models.
