Speak as you eat. Sharing authentic value on the ground, under the banner of sustainability and transparency, ‘from seed to fork’. Farmer farming and ‘cultured supply chain’, participatory. Disintermediated. #Vazapp!, ‘rural hub’.
‘Buzzword’ and peasant agriculture
The expression ‘buzzword‘ is meant to refer to those words or phrases that have become ‘fashionable’ in a particular sector or social context of reference. Several are counted in the agribusiness supply chain. Often artfully constructed, or abused, by the very people who gain economic or political advantage from them. And the losers are generally those players in the supply chain who suffer from the information asymmetry, farmers and consumers especially.
‘Integrated struggle’ triumphs everywhere, to cite one example. Also on the plastic of bagged salads sold by the pound, except to note how consumption of agrotoxics in Italy is 2.4 times the European average.
‘Integral‘
e
‘Natural‘
, often belied by the very labels that boast them, have reached even the equally expensive dog and cat foods. And ‘Made in Italy‘ is the comedy of misunderstandings that goes over the top with ‘Canadian lentils from Colfiorito,’ dried with glyphosate and other poisons.
‘Traceability’ and ‘blockchain‘ are the castigators of the 6-7 zeros IT and consulting giants, the latter of whom suddenly masquerade as food strategy experts from auditors. Experts primarily in the strategy ‘of’ feeding their coffers by selling systems whose costs are inversely proportional to the benefits they offer, in terms of reliability and usability. (1) The lesser-known buzzwords, on the other hand, are those that run in the circles of agricultural confederations, where under the banner of ‘Produce-Consume-Create‘ (citing CCCP) whole ranks of farmers and ranchers are dragged over the abyss and left to plummet. Just as happened with the Sardinian shepherds, victims of the delusion of their own representatives. (2)
From ‘storytelling‘ to ‘fake news,’ the step is short. Thus ‘traffic lights on labels‘-which with the French NutriScore system aim to reduce consumption of ultra-processed foods and thus illnesses linked to unbalanced diets-are also opposed by agricultural confederations. Whose focus should instead come to promote healthy, earth-bound and traditional foods with minimally processed local ingredients and simple labels.
Peasant agriculture does not need buzzwords or to be exploited in the name of alien interests. Instead, we need legal instruments of shared cultural preservation and promotion. To bring fair value back to the center of the supply chain, communicate and share good practices of sustainable agriculture, in the transition to organic. In line, by the way, with pressure from below from ConsumAtors, including younger ones. And with theSustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in UN Agenda 2030, so far only on paper.
But how do we turn collective deception into the sharing of truthful and verified information to create equitable and sustainable supply chains? How to push GDO to contribute to shared growth, without having to whitewash the streets with milk? How to push the Italian industry to understand that its future is doubly tied to the use of good, healthy and Italian raw materials? And how to create tools to bring farmers and consumers together? Who should create them, who should participate? What information, what processes, and what products? And how to always remember, every day, that agriculture is food and food is health, under the above conditions?
#Vazapp! Short supply chain, ‘cultured supply chain’
Vazapp! was born in 2016 from the idea of Giuseppe Savino-a volcanic son of farmers in the Foggia area-to sow change through relationships, his real seeds. (2) A ‘rural hub’ where lived experiences can be shared, thanks to periodic gatherings such as #contadinners that bring farmers together on their territories. To give rise to new ecosystems, social innovation, ‘bottom-up’ change, #dreamdorto. For there are many who talk to farmers, each ‘pro domo sua,’ and even more who discuss agriculture and farmers. But how many are those who listen, share and act with farmers with a view to working together for the common good?
The globalized supply chain is composed of farmers and industries on 5 continents, large-scale retailers plagued by competition fromecommerce giants, and consumers seeking trust. But it is only the awareness of the strategic role of its upstream and downstream players, farmers and consumAtors, that can close the circle of eco-logical supply chains. Action is needed to grow, to reactivate production and domestic demand, rather than just re-acting in the most difficult times.
Fair and sustainable supply chains are born and flourish if the farmer is a promoter of them and the citizen-consumer takes action to become informed and participate, rather than being besieged by buzzwords with no authentic meaning. New technologies can help farmers communicate and consumers understand, but they cannot create value out of thin air. There is no ‘thaumaturgic’ technology, rather various tools that can be adapted to different situations, needs and products. To stimulate conscious and responsible consumption, including through a smartphone.
The ‘cultured supply chain‘ is one that is informed and responsible, collaborative, equitable and sustainable. Therefore, the real meaning of short supply chain is precisely ‘cultured supply chain.’
‘Someone once said that with culture you can’t eat. Well, the time has come to say that without culture we do not sow‘ (Giuseppe Savino, Vazapp!).
Listen, share, act.
#Égalité!
Dario Dongo and Gian Luca Mascellino
Notes
(1) About the reliability of what is now being passed off as ‘
blockchain
‘ one should carefully consider the following aspects:
– public blockchain (the only one that can call itself such) versus private ledgers(Distributed LedgerTechnologies, i.e., distributed ledgers that allow reading and often modification by multiple parties),
– autonomy and independence of network members (another prerequisite for blockchain to exist) versus control of one of its operators (e.g., Carrefour),
– immutability of data v. possible adaptations (which destroy the value of ‘digital notarization,’ thus depriving the entire system of meaning).
As for data usability, the systems last presented at Cibus Connect 2019 show code screens. As if the consumer is being placed in front of the HTML codes rather than the resulting websites.
(2) On Sardinian shepherds, see previous articles https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/consum-attori/c-è-latte-e-latte-le-ragioni-degli-allevatori-in-sardegna, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/pastorisardi-la-gdo-scende-in-campo-primi-segni-d-intesa-con-l-industria, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/sardegna-l-antitrust-indaga-sui-prezzi-di-latte-e-pecorino-alcuni-dati-di-mercato
(3) Giuseppe Savino and Vazapp! on Instagram (#vazapphub), Twitter @VazzappHub, LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/giuseppesavino81, Facebook https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1538260599
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
Gian Luca Mascellino, CEO of ChainForFood, founder of the Italian Sustainable Agriculture Movement.
