QUALITALY 142

October/November 2024 VI MAGAZINE perhaps - why not? - feed more people, we will exploit the environment so much that we will have no more land available to satisfy our dual goals of production efficiency and social sustainability. Not to mention the fact, now scientifically documented, that anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions, mostly caused by the current agro-industrial model, are responsible for climate change and that this, in turn, rebounds devastatingly on food production. If, on the other hand, we decide that it is a priority to preserve the environment, and thus reduce greenhouse gas emissions, we will have to opt for less production-efficient industrial models; the problem is that this degrowth does not seem, at first sight, so good: if we will end up with less money in our pockets, and - presumably - with less food, how will we be able to protect the right to live free from hunger? It would be worth reflecting on the fact that the current production system, besides being far from the goal of ‘zero hunger’, is more than contributing to pushing us beyond the so-called planetary boundaries, that ‘safe operating space’ in which life on earth is possible. If we continue like this, we will have an even more serious problem than guaranteeing the human right to food: even now, if everyone consumed at the rate of Europe’s ecological footprint, we would need three planet Earths. Let alone think about things in the long term. It is fortunate that we have not yet passed the point of no return, apart from those who already imagine a new mass extinction. The truth is that it is not impossible to recalibrate the economy so that human life on earth is not only possible but also dignified, including the right to food. The idea is simple: imitate the functioning of environmental eco-systems, so as to create a regenerative and, therefore, more efficiently distributive economy. This is precisely the regenerative gamble of the ‘circular’ economy, based on cyclical, so-called ‘closed-loop’ systems, in which one can no longer think of extracting and producing, without giving something back to the planet of what has been taken, and reintroducing it into the productive circle, for the benefit of everyone. Even the waste from productive activity will then become important, because perhaps there is room to recover it, transforming it into valuable resources, preventing it from ending up piled up in landfills. Finally, a final ethical side of the food issue concerns the choices of those who buy and consume food. Much of the political rhetoric of recent years has staked everything on the figure of the consumer, feeding us the fairy tale that the consumer’s voice would be heard, through the shopping trolley. But the truth is that he looks more like a cute puppet, who keeps moving in the seductive labyrinth of marketing, arranged to make him believe he is the protagonist of change. Those who measure themselves against the issues that food ethics raises know that it is a bit childish - as Thomson reminds us, ‘to hope to save the world by shopping better’. It will be said that it is still better than the acephalous mass consumption or the aesthetic snobbery of the foodie , who is none other than the post-modern version of the refined bourgeois gourmand; certainly better than the voyeuristic obsession of those who enjoy posting sexualised food photos on Instagram. But we’re not there yet, if we don’t take the path of collective and coordinated action, capable of giving political form to the outrage at that silent genocide from which we started. It is likely that that community voice will stand out: that is to say, it will have been a genuine protest. Moreover, it would be enough to listen: the farmers, at least they, have been shouting it for a while. They have been trying since at least the 1996 FAO World Summit, with their firm idea of food sovereignty. They have never stopped saying so: there can be no food security if those who produce food do not have a say in how it should be produced, respecting the earth, animals, people and cultures. After all, it was all already written in that beautiful idea of adequate food, which the right to food - as we have said - provides in its complex legal architecture of protections. But it took the indignant voice of farmers for us to realise that that idea is the key to everything, simply because behind that idea lies the dignity of people. So, it is always the same question of justice that the ethics of food holds. The fact is that, as of September 2018, food sovereignty has become a right, embedded within a brand-new declaration: ‘Farmers and other rural people have the right to determine their own food and agricultural systems, this being recognised by many states and regions as a right to food sovereignty. This includes the right to participate in decision-making processes on food and agricultural policies and the right to healthy and adequate food produced through ecologically safe and sustainable methods that respect their cultures’. I believe we need to start here. Or we can kiss our safe operating space goodbye. And, if we do, it will be too late to return to this one remaining starting point. For us and for the generations to come. __________________________________ AT PAGE 20 CHEF’S FACES? In search of new f lavours TRADITION, INNOVATION AND PRIZED MEATS FROM AROUND THE WORLD MEET ON THE MENU AT THE BRACERIA PIZZERIA CARUSO RESTAURANT IN CHIETI by Veronica Fumarola One restaurant, three different souls. Ristorante Braceria Pizzeria Caruso in Chieti, in the heart of Abruzzo, offers its customers a varied cuisine, beginning with the solid roots of the Abruzzo culinary tradition, embraces innovation and crosses national borders, offering prized breeds of meat that over the years have become one of the highlights of the menu. In the restaurant, which first opened its doors in 1996, thanks to Franco Di Biase and his wife Nadia Mancini , his son Mattia Di Biase also works. For several years now, he has been working in Caruso’s kitchen, bringing with him his passion for Spanish meat and a breath of fresh air and innovation. A few years ago, the Ristorante Braceria Pizzeria Caruso revised the menu, elevating the concept of ‘Eating differently since 1996’, the payoff featured in the logo and also displayed inside the restaurant, proposing fusion cuisine. A ‘refresh’ in which Antonio Di Lorenzo , a young chef from Abruzzo who has been working in the Chieti restaurant since 2022, also took part. In this issue of Quality Magazine , he tells us about the restaurant’s philosophy, the menu, his experience and his wishes for Christmas and the new year that is just around the corner. HOW DID YOU ARRIVE IN THE KITCHEN OF RISTORANTE BRACERIA PIZZERIA CARUSO? About two years ago, the owners decided to revamp the menu, asking chef Tiziano