Authors: Carolyn Steel
Published: 2021 – version translated by Simona Moretti
Publishing House: Plan B
ISBN: 9788893711173
Language: Italian
“Sitopia” is a book that invites us to rethink man’s relationship with food in the present and build a more sustainable future. Author Carolyn Steel offers us a positive and different vision, or rather apossible utopia, a new food paradigm that she calls “Sitopia.” The term comes from the Greek words “sitos” (food) and “topos” (place) and thus indicates a world where food is at the center of social and cultural life, and where food production and consumption are sustainable, equitable and healthy.
Many of the world’s problems are influenced by and related to food, especially the impact on the environment, economy, and health of the way we produce, distribute, and consume food. Thus, the dynamics of society and its most pressing problems are analyzed through various disciplines (history, economics, philosophy, architecture, biology and literature) and a broad historical and cultural overview. The book exposes the limitations of our current food system , based on intensive monocultures, industrial farms and long supply chains, which cause food waste, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, climate change, chronic health problems, malnutrition, and social inequalities.
Instead, Sitopia’s new food paradigm is characterized by sustainable and environmentally friendly agricultural practices (such as organic farming and crop rotation), production and consumption of local and seasonal products, prevention and reduction of food waste at all levels of the supply chain, education and awareness towards a healthy and conscious food culture, and finally the creation of greener and more sustainable cities.
So, “Sitopia” invites people to reflect on their eating habits and to make more conscious, sustainable and collective choices about what dish to put on the table.
