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The current food systems, as highlighted by the “Farm to Fork” strategy, pose significant challenges regarding food security and productivity, public health, and environmental sustainability. Promoting balanced and responsible food choices means improving citizens’ quality of life, reducing healthcare costs, and contributing to the planet’s health. In this context, the project Sustainable Nutrition and Fight against Waste, promoted by Cittadinanzattiva, is aimed at raising awareness and strengthening the active role of citizens in the transition towards fairer and more sustainable food systems.

The transition towards sustainable food systems requires an integrated approach linking individual well-being to ecosystem health. All the actors in the supply chain – from production to distribution – are called upon to rethink their roles. However, the consumer represents the real change engine: from passive recipient to active protagonist, capable of directing demand and influencing the entire system. The active role of those who work in the distribution sector must not be overlooked either. 

WHEN THE CONSUMER MAKES THE DIFFERENCE

The consumer, if adequately informed, can exercise their power and consequent responsibility at different key moments:

1. The choice: every citizen, by deciding what to eat, where to buy it, and how to cook it, performs an act with concrete effects. Conscious choices can favour more sustainable supply chains, reduce environmental impact, and encourage virtuous practices in the relevant social context.
2. The fight against waste: citizens can make a difference in daily food management by adopting responsible choices that reduce losses and food waste. The positive outcomes are evident: economic resources are saved, environmental impact is limited, and recovery and redistribution of surpluses are favoured, with concrete benefits also on the social level. In this direction, the European Commission has also set the goal of halving per capita food waste at retail and consumer levels by 2030. This aligns with target 3 of Goal 12 of the 2030 Agenda (Responsible consumption and production).
3. The disposal of waste: even after purchase and consumption, the consumer’s behaviour remains central. Correctly disposing of domestic waste, such as food packaging, is essential to ensure recycling. In 2022, the recycling rate stopped at 49.2%, despite a separate collection of 65.2% (ISPRA data), indicating how crucial individual behaviour and facilities’ efficiency are. Special attention is deserved by the correct management of highly polluting waste, such as used cooking oils, which have still not recovered much.
4. Activism and participation: Finally, the citizen can actively participate in public life, offering his/her effective contribution to defining the quality of the waste management service and monitoring it, as provided by paragraph 461 of Law No. 244/2007.

OUR PROJECT

Cittadinanzattiva has launched the project Sustainable Nutrition and the Fight Against Waste with the unconditional support of the Italian Union for Sustainable Palm Oil, to strengthen citizens’ active role in the transition towards more sustainable food systems.

Built on three fundamental priorities – enhancing sustainable supply chains, promoting sustainable nutrition, and encouraging responsible consumption and the fight against waste – the project aims to:

• Promote change, first individual and then collective, that affirms more sustainable models of production and consumption.
• Increase consumer awareness regarding sustainable nutrition, the importance of sustainable and circular supply chains, correct information, food safety, and the fight against waste.

SAVE THE DATE – SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION AND THE FIGHT AGAINST WASTE

To address these topics, Cittadinanzattiva invites you on 29 May, at 2:30 PM, to the event in Italian “Sustainable nutrition and fight against waste,” during which the report emerged from the elaboration and analysis of data collected through a civic consultation will be presented to which about 3,000 citizens and a statistically representative sample selected by the Research Center EngageMinds Hub of the Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore participated. The report explores citizens’ points of view on sustainable nutrition, health, waste, the role of distributors, and communication with the consumer.

The event, part of the homonymous project of Cittadinanzattiva, is carried out with the patronage of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security and the Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, and is included in the Festival of Sustainable Development 2025 calendar.

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