Italians concerned about sustainability

(ANSA) - Rome, May 24 - Sustainability is a concept that many Italians express interest in, with 25% saying that are well-versed on the subject and 23% saying that are worried about it.
    Some 13% are concerned about environmental damage and 10% about the healthiness of food.
    The issue ranks among Italians' top concerns, only slightly below that of employment (31%). It ranks higher than terrorism (19%), immigration (14%) and the uncertainty of the political climate (7%). These are the findings of a survey entitled 'Chi Ha Paura del Cibo Cattivo? Gli Italiani e la Sostenibilità' ('Who Is Afraid of Bad Food? Italians and Sustainability'), sponsored by Bologna Award-CAAB and the Centro Agroalimentare, alongside the FICO and ENPAM foundations. It was carried out by Nomisma and presented as part of the launch of the Sustainability & Food 2017 Bologna Award, which will be celebrated in Bologna on Saturday, October 14 two days before World Food Day. Some 39% of Italians say the term 'sustainability' refers to the environment and its protection, while 23% say it refers to the protection of human health. Others connect it with biodiversity (15%), traditional foods (8%) or even with the economy (5%). On the issue of how to promote and strengthen food sustainability, politicians are trusted by only 24%, while another 24% prefer to go it alone and take action at a personal level, while for 27% it is better to trust in the food industry (27%) or that of agriculture (17%). Above all, sustainability is achieved day by day through lifestyles and responsible personal choices, Italians say, and 41% look first at whether products come from Italy and 39% first at the quality of the ingredients. This year, Bologna Award has introduced "City of Food Masters", a testimonial of food sustainability. The 2017 'Master' is Ibrahim Abouleish, an Egyptian doctor and researcher promoting the Sekem project, a biodynamics company that has transformed thousands of hectares of desert into arable land.