The Sustainability of Urban Food Systems: The Case of Mozzarella Production in the City of Milan

Marta Castrica,Sara Panseri,Giovanni Ferrazzi,Claudia Maria Balzaretti,Vera Ventura,Doriana Tedesco

doi:10.3390/su12020682

Abstract

Background: Urban food production in the developed world has recently been facing the challenge of feeding the world’s cities adequately and on a sustainable basis, and innovative models of food production can help this transition. Nevertheless, this field of research largely focuses on primary food production—so-called urban farming—while the subsequent steps of the food chain have scarcely been investigated. In this context, this study aimed to provide a preliminary evaluation of urban food processing, taking mozzarella cheese production in the city of Milan as a case study. Methods: Five urban farmers participated in a direct survey aiming at identifying how sustainable this specific production chain can be considered. Results: Results demonstrated that the concept of urban food production is really valorized through measures able to enhance the global sustainability of the food production process only in some of the dairy micro- enterprises and that the economic dimension must be considered the variable most critically involved in hampering the global sustainability of this specific food chain. Conclusions: This research suggests the need to disseminate a global governance of urban supply chains and to support local activities, which represent a sensitive and strategic sector.

Highlights

The ability of urban food systems to implement innovative ways of organizing the food chain, to achieve shared goals of sustainability and social inclusion, is an emerging issue in recent years [1,2]
A total of seven micro dairies were identified in the city of Milan, but only five urban farmers had the production of mozzarella cheese as their core activity and agreed to participate in the study
In regard to the quantities of milk managed, all the micro dairies are in a range between 6 and 10 tons/day, while the quantities of mozzarella produced are within a range of 20–40 kg/day

Summary

Introduction

The ability of urban food systems to implement innovative ways of organizing the food chain, to achieve shared goals of sustainability and social inclusion, is an emerging issue in recent years [1,2]. Urban food production in the developed world has recently been facing the challenge of feeding the world’s cities adequately and on a sustainable basis, and innovative models of food production can help this transition. This field of research largely focuses on primary food production—so-called urban farming—while the subsequent steps of the food chain have scarcely been investigated. In this context, this study aimed to provide a preliminary evaluation of urban food processing, taking mozzarella cheese production in the city of Milan as a case study. Conclusions: This research suggests the need to disseminate a global governance of urban supply chains and to support local activities, which represent a sensitive and strategic sector

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion