A feeling of indifference and powerlessness regarding the possibility of choosing quality food is often the deleterious result of not knowing the origin of what we eat.
To fill this gap and turn food shopping into a ‘revolutionary’ gesture, three technicians, agronomists and food technologists, all professionals and teachers, condensed the seven rules for choosing quality food into a publication.
Choosing quality food is a revolutionary act
‘If “eating is an agricultural act” (Wendell Berry), choosing food is a revolutionary act, because our food choices have the power to change the world. And this is a fact, pure truth.
‘If I choose one vegetable and forget another I will drive the latter to extinction (including those who grow it), if I choose a food model I will orient cultivation, breeding and production systems,’ write the publication’s authors, Donato Ferrucci, Nicolò Passeri and Patrizia Salusti.
Stunned by advertisements and claims, made wary by misinformation, ‘passive consumers’ hastily buy what they have been persuaded to want, without asking some critical questions about the quality and cost of what they put in their shopping cart.
The seven rules of the consumAtor
To regain awareness in food shopping, the three experts point to seven rules, accompanied by extensive reflections and instructions:
1 – Read the label
2 – Interpreting what we have read
3 – Is it a quality product?
4 – Can I be trusted?
5 – Do I like it? Is it good?
6 – Does the price seem fair?
7 – Am I satisfied?
Pills of technicalities savespending
Accompanying the information unveiling the seven rules, the authors conclude the publication with valuable information little known to consumers, such as
– certain food product designations that must have precise characteristics,
– The mandatory information to be provided to the consumer, with some practical examples,
– explanatory sheets on the objectives and guarantees offered by the various quality systems (organic, geographical indications, National Quality System Livestock Production, etc.).
The publication is available in the appendix, priced at‘7 Acts of Kindness within the Next 15 Days‘.
ANNEX. Donato Ferrucci, Nicolò Passeri, Patrizia Salusti. ‘Choose a quality food product. 7 rules and lots of feeling‘
Professional journalist since January 1995, he has worked for newspapers (Il Messaggero, Paese Sera, La Stampa) and periodicals (NumeroUno, Il Salvagente). She is the author of journalistic surveys on food, she has published the book "Reading labels to know what we eat".
