Applicative Aspects for a Sustainable Supply-Chain from Aquaculture to Community Canteens in Italy

Italy is leading in the use of sustainable or organic produce in the school canteens, with many farm‑to‑school activities. In fact, 800 school districts, i.e. about 10% of the total, serve organic vegetables, procured regardless of lowest‑price bid procedures, and this policy is considered part of the “educational” curriculum; public procurement is seen thus as a mean to achieve “healthier” behaviors and habits in the economy and the society. Unfortunately, this is not true with animal meals (meat, fish, dairy products, ...), because the supply‑chain is more complex, and difficult to monitor and certify; therefore, serving fresh, high‑quality fish coming from sustainable aquaculture systems in school and other public canteens becomes a difficult affair in practice, requiring research, innovation, information and training at every stage of the pipeline. This study describes a preliminary catering trial ‑ in the canteen of a public research institution ‑ of fresh sausages and hamburgers from farmed rainbow trouts (Oncorhynchus mykiss), of which Italy is a major producer. We assess the “material” difficulties arisen during the experiment as well as those perceived by the different actors along the supply‑chain, including the consumers, and propose solutions to overcome some problems, e.g. the fact that fish, at least when served in more conventional presentations (i.e., whole or as fillet), has a high rejection rate. Finally, we analyze the results of a questionnaire survey on fish consumption in community canteens, which reveal that awareness of the merceological characteristics of the foodstuff served, while improving with information, is quite poor even with “up‑scale” consumers. At present, a larger research program, titled SanPeI, utilizing traditional and multi‑media approaches funded by the Italian DoA and aimed at some primary schools in Rome County, is under way, using organically‑grown, autochthonous, brackish‑water species (i.e., seabream Sparus aurata, seabass Dicentrachus labrax, grey mullets Mugil sp.).