Turning ‘Food to Be Wasted’ into Food Security and Multi-ethnic Integration:: The Example of Refoodgees in the New Esquiline Market

Abstract

Feeding the city is one of the most important challenges for modern production systems. Urban food networks are associated with food safety, the quality and healthiness of products, efficient use of resources of consumption, and the sustainability of the urban model in general. According to the latest policy reports, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the purchasing power of already marginalized consumers (e.g., immigrants, students, and the elderly), and their nutritional security has further deteriorated as a direct result. This paper presents the initial findings of a study on the role of voluntary associations in providing alternative food networks. The partnership of one of them, “Refoodgees,” with one of the oldest food markets in Rome, “New Esquiline Market,” is described as an example. This sort of partnership can offer resilient, alternative food networks better able to meet the needs of the urban population, by redesigning the foodscapes of an urban district in a time of emergency—through a combination of environmental approaches and a new way of “revalorizing” products—while filling the gaps of urban food policies.