Italian Studies on Food and Quality of Life (Social Indicators Research Series, 85)

The book explores, through a reflection on food, the complexity of the concept of well-being. It starts from the consideration that food is a fundamental element for human well-being, and for well-being of the planet as a whole. Not only does food guarantee the survival of human beings, it is also a cultural expression. With regard to the Italian socio-cultural context, the contributors explore how food relates to aspects such as history, tradition, new food styles, health, and the old and new technologies used to produce food. The studies in the book do not simply analyse indicators to illustrate the Italian situation in the "here and now". As part of the tradition of studies on social indicators, they provide valid and well-founded indications to contribute to an improvement in the quality of life for years to come. This work on the theme of food represents a very useful contribution to the general reflection on well-being and its statistical, sociological, and multidisciplinary study, due to the importance historically given to food in Italy and the socio-cultural implications of food in various life contexts. Foreword 6 Contents 8 Chapter 1: The Relationship between Food Styles and Health: A Contribution from Italian Official Data 9 Food and Health: A Key Link for Understanding the Quality-of-Life Status 10 The Reflection on the Relationship between Food and Health: A Short Historical Background 10 Official Data and Scientific Knowledge 14 The Link between Food and Health: The Data Sources 15 The DFA Analysis 17 The Data 17 The Method 17 Results 20 Conclusions: Quality of Life Needs a Broader Vision 23 References 26 Chapter 2: Sagre and Quality of Life. The Italian Heritage of Popular Gastronomy 28 Italian Sagre: Origin and Tradition 28 The Sagre as Popular Feast between the Sacred and the Profane 30 Evolution and Characteristics of the Italian Sagre 33 Sagre and Quality of Life 37 Conclusions 39 References 42 Chapter 3: New Food and Restaurant Trends 45 Introduction 46 Gastronomy Is the Social Media Queen 47 The Diffusion of Superfoods 48 From the Local to the Global: Fusion Food 49 Novel Foods: From Insects to Artificial Meat 49 The Restaurant as Theatre 52 Food Delivery Transforms the Restaurant Sector 54 Virtual Restaurants: A New Business Model 56 References 60 Chapter 4: Food Consumption Associated with Health Status and Lifestyle Factors in the Adult Italian Regional Population: An A... 62 Introduction 62 Origins of Food Style(s) in Italy 64 Data and Methods 66 A Proposal for Data Organization 68 Methodology 69 Analysis Results: Food Habits Based on Patterns of Food Consumptions 70 Cluster #1: Youngsters and Adults of the Southern Regions 73 Cluster #2: Youngsters and Adults of the Northern Regions 74 Cluster #3: Adults and Aged Adult People of the Central and Northern Regions 75 Cluster #4: Elderly People of the Central and Northern Regions 75 Cluster #5: Aged Adults and Elderly People of the Southern Regions 76 Discussion 76 References 78 Chapter 5: On the Theory of Measurement of Experience-Based Food Insecurity at the Global Level 81 Introduction 81 Conceptual Framework: Definitions of Food Security 83 Epistemology of Subjective Measures 87 The Process of Measurement in Terms of Policies 88 Subjective Indicators for Measuring Food Security 89 Conclusions 91 References 91 Chapter 6: Experienced Food Insecurity: A Compared Analysis between Formative and Reflective Approach 95 Introduction 96 Formative and Reflective Measurement Models 97 Data and Methods 98 The Data 99 The Method 99 The Results 102 Theoretical Considerations 102 Empirical Analysis 104 Conclusions 111 References 112 Chapter 7: Agriculture and New Technologies: A Basic Challenge for the Twenty-First Century 117 Introduction 117 Agriculture and Technology. A Long Relationship in History Looking at Tomorrow 118 New Technologies in today ́s Agriculture: Problems and Perspectives 121 Production and Services for Smart Agriculture 123 Concluding Remarks 125 References 126 Chapter 8: Food and Communities: Perspectives of Sharing Society 129 Food and Communities 129 Some Models of Sharing Communities 131 The Community and the Neighborhood 134 The Sharing of Food Resources and the Monti Frumentari 135 Solidarity Communities and Sharing Society 137 The Auzolan Model and Agro-Ecology 140 The Paradox of Abundance 143 References 146 Web Sites 148 Chapter 9: Epilogue-Food Memories and Quality of Life 149