The environmental sustainability of pasta is the subject of a recent scientific study, published in ‘Resources’. Researchers from the Universities of Florence and Rome examined two production chains, comparing ancient and modern wheat. What horizons?
A world of Italian pasta
Pasta consumption worldwide has almost doubled, from 9 to 15 million tons per year, in the last decade. And Italy – where this food is regularly consumed by 9 out of 10 people, every day by 1 out of 3 – is a global leader. Not only for per capita consumption (23 kg/year, followed by 16 in Tunisia, 12 in Venezuela, and 11.2 in Greece), but also for manufacturing and export. To the point that almost a quarter of the pasta consumed on the planet today is Made in Italy.
Italian production of pasta actually reached 3.4 million tons in 2018. With a remarkable export share (58%, nearly 2 million tons). And Italy is also the largest producer of durum wheat in the European Union, with 1.28 million hectares cultivated.
Agricultural production national, however, is not yet capable of ensuring the supply chain’s self-sufficiency. Faced with an industrial demand of 5.6 million tons/year of durum wheat and a production that in the last 5 years has averaged 4 million tons (data from Italmopa, Italian Millers Industrial Association).
100% Italian pasta, a world in evolution
The demand of food products from 100% supply chains Made in Italy is moreover strongly growing, as shown by theImmagino Observatory 2018 (GS1-Italy) and the Coop Italia report 2019.
100% Italian pasta is also destined to garner growing interest at international level. First of all in Europe, thanks to the Regulation (EU) 2018/775 which – effective from 1.4.20 – requires indicating on the label the origin or provenance of the primary ingredient, where it is different from the indicated country of production. (2)
Sustainable productions and consumption, the case of pasta
The #WorldPastaDay, at its 21st edition on 25.10.19, was dedicated to #aldente cooking. A topic good for every era and circumstance, yet at the same time futile and untimely. Even more so now, in presence of 'hot topics' such as:
- sensational growth of global pasta consumption,
- surge in demand for short supply chain products,
- new EU rules on primary ingredient labeling,
- mistrust towards wheat from Canada due to glyphosate allowed there in the pre-harvest phase,
- growing attention towards the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs, in the UN 2030 Agenda.
How to achieve Sustainable Development Goal no. 12, Sustainable Production and Consumption? How can the pasta supply chain contribute to the achievement of other SDGs? How can this supply chain be transformed so that it becomes 'part of the solution' rather than remaining 'part of the problem' of climate change?
Environmental sustainability is the real issue to address, taking into account energy and water consumption, waste production, CO2 emissions generated by production and transport, the maintenance of biodiversity and soil quality. More generally, sustainability can be understood as the ability to preserve favorable environmental, social and economic conditions in the long term.
Environmental footprint of pasta, local 'ancient' grains vs. international 'modern' grains compared. The scientific study
The scientific study published on Resources, work by a research group from the Universities of Rome and Florence, is dedicated precisely to ‘Environmental Sustainability of Pasta Production Chains: An Integrated Approach for Comparing Local and Global Chains’. (3) The researchers measured the environmental footprint of two production chains. The first uses semolina from 'ancient' grains (Senatore Cappelli variety) and traditional techniques, the second employs national and foreign 'modern' grains, as well as industrial processes.
The research was conducted using an integrated analysis method, based on EIAN (Environmental Impacts ANalysis) and LCA (Life Cycle Assessment). To measure the environmental footprint of the chains – from sowing to consumption, without neglecting intermediate phases (storage and logistics) – on soil, water, air, natural resources, and climate change. Ancient grains are confirmed to be more ecological, thanks to lower fertilizer consumption and lower levels of mechanization.
A previous research had already shown how the cultivation of ancient grains with an organic system even has a negative carbon footprint. This work in turn shows how the production of 1 kg of dry pasta, depending on the case, requires:
– 1.706 kg of CO2e, 13.7 MJ of fossil energy, 0.206 kg of non-renewable resources, for pasta from ancient grains and traditional techniques,
– 1.765 kg of CO2eq, 14.3 MJ of fossil energy, 0.152 kg of non-renewable energy for pasta from modern wheats of various origins.
Ancient grains stand out above all for the reduction of soil degradation risk and the maintenance of agrobiodiversity that their cultivation allows, confirm the researchers. Even if their yield is lower and this requires the use of larger areas and more water – compared to modern cultivars – to obtain the same quantities of pasta.
Sustainable pasta, what horizons?
15 years ago The Italian food industry – in fact led by the Barilla group, the first contributor of the then UNIPI (Union of Italian Pasta Industrialists, now Italian Food Union) – opposed the requests for labeling the origin of raw materials claiming that Italian agricultural production was insufficient in quantity and quality. To compensate for this declared deficit, Italy has always imported wheat from Canada, USA, Australia, France, Mexico, and Eastern Europe. However, over a decade, this false rhetoric was replaced bypromotion of Italian wheat pasta (by the same Barilla group, under the Voiello brand).
The imports of durum wheat from Canada have collapsed. Because even the large pasta industries, except for rare exceptions, have finally understood the trend that the GDO (Large Organized Distribution) had timely intercepted. That is, the interest of consumers towards 100% Italian pasta, strictly without glyphosate. And without those mycotoxins, mutagenic and carcinogenic, which find an ideal environment to proliferate in the holds of ships transporting grains.
The new horizon of pasta in Italy is a return to origins, with guarantees offered by innovation. Genetically characterized ancient grains, cultivated with organic methods – which continues to grow – and tracked with a system of blockchain public (e.g. Wiise Chain).
Fair and sustainable supply chains, biodiversity and respect for ecosystems and those who live in them. At affordable prices, without renouncing to recognize the efforts of those committed to a 'good and fair' supply chain. A matter of common sense and efficiency.
Dario Dongo and Paolo Caruso
Notes
(1) Lucia Recchia, Alessio Cappelli, Enrico Cini, Francesco Pegna, Paolo Boncinelli. (2019). Environmental Sustainability of Pasta Production Chains: An Integrated Approach for Comparing Local and Global Chains. Resources. 8. 56. 10.3390/resources8010056
(2) The writer has renamed ‘Planet Earth Origin’ the EC reg. 2018/775, due to the generic nature of the permitted indications (up to ‘EU/non-EU’, namely Planet Earth Origin) and unjustified exemptions. In favor of geographical indications contained in trademarks, PGI, organic products. In any case, its application makes it easy to distinguish foreign wheat pasta from easily distinguishable domestic pasta
(3) See note 1
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT – Food Times) and Égalité.
Paolo Caruso, agronomist, collaborates with the Department of Agriculture, Food and Environment of the University of Catania, Agronomy and Herbaceous Crops section. Researcher on ancient Sicilian wheat.
