Assessing the Transformative Potential of Food Banks: The Case Study of Magazzini Sociali (Italy)
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. The Two Sides of the Food Paradox and Its Causes
3. The Response to the Food Paradox in Italy: The Food Banks System
4. The Transformative Potential of Food Redistribution Initiatives: A Conceptual Framework
4.1. The Theoretical Background
4.2. The PAHS Model
- Enabling replication of projects within the niche, bringing about aggregative changes through many small initiatives;
- Enabling constituent projects to grow in scale and attract more participants;
- Facilitating translation of niche ideas into mainstream settings.
5. Methodology
- A literature review phase, where the most appropriate questionnaire was selected and adapted to the needs of our case and the material for the creation of an analytical framework aimed at assessing the transformative potential of the initiative was detected;
- A phase dedicated to delivery of the first questionnaire (June 2020) and the first semi-structured interviews (August 2020);
- A writing and reflection phase: the case study was drafted according to the initial plan, then results were elaborated according to a SWOT analysis and discussed with the volunteers in a second semi-structured interview (September 2020) based on our analytical framework;
- Two final deep interviews to the president and vice president of the association in November 2020.
6. Results and Discussion
6.1. The Social Context
6.2. The Story and Activity of Magazzini Sociali
6.3. Interviews in SWOT Analysis According to the PAHS Model
6.4. Magazzini Sociali within the PAHS Theoretical Framework
6.4.1. Prefiguration
6.4.2. Autonomy
6.4.3. Hybridity
6.4.4. Scalability
7. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Berti, G.; Giordano, C.; Mininni, M. Assessing the Transformative Potential of Food Banks: The Case Study of Magazzini Sociali (Italy). Agriculture 2021, 11, 249. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11030249
Berti G, Giordano C, Mininni M. Assessing the Transformative Potential of Food Banks: The Case Study of Magazzini Sociali (Italy). Agriculture. 2021; 11(3):249. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11030249
Chicago/Turabian StyleBerti, Giaime, Claudia Giordano, and Mariavaleria Mininni. 2021. "Assessing the Transformative Potential of Food Banks: The Case Study of Magazzini Sociali (Italy)" Agriculture 11, no. 3: 249. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture11030249