The City of Turin has established an interdepartmental and intersectoral coordination on food policies that include and represent all offices dealing with it and encourage a shift from sectoral actions to more strategic approaches.

The goal is to improve the governance process in which all components of the city administration participate.

Councillor for Ecological and Digital Transition Chiara Foglietta, proposed the creation of the coordination last Friday, through a council communication, where she recalled how the City is committed to policies and activities that promote equitable access to food and foster a culture of awareness on healthy and sustainable lifestyles, enhancing local excellence, stimulating the fight against waste and the circular economy.

A need that has clearly emerged with the City’s application as a partner for the FUSILLI project of the four-year Horizon 2020 Program, which first and foremost represents an opportunity to develop and create synergies with various European and national projects which have in the development of food policies their object of work.

The establishment of this synergistic coordination is a strong signal of the City’s commitment to promoting the sustainable transition of the city’s food system.

The working group will focus on four thematic tracks:

  • environmental sustainability and circular economy;
  • food security and waste;
  • urban agriculture;
  • and cultural promotion.

In this way, Turin intends to further strengthen its commitment to policies and activities that promote equitable access to quality food and to enhance the realities already present in the area and promoting new synergies with a view to the circular economy and innovation.

Turin was the first European city to sign the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, an international pact signed by more than 200 cities from around the world with the aim of building a food policy that combines the right to food with the issue of environmental sustainability, the fight against waste and the enhancement of the complex and articulated local food ecosystem.

This article was originally published on the website of Torino City Lab: Food policies: the City of Turin established a coordination – Torino City Lab (English version). In addition, it was published in the online newspaper Torinoggi: Politiche delcibo, La città di Torino istituisce un coordinamento – Torino Oggi (torinoggi.it) (Italian version)

Credits for image: Unsplash (Raul Gonzalez Escobar)