The sustainability of diets: current understanding and shortcomings

Food production contributes to 21–37% of global greenhousegas emissions, 70% of water withdrawals and occupies more than 40% of lands. Despite one third of the food produced is wasted, access to food and healthy diets are not guaranteed to all. Sustainable nutrition investigates how to transition to healthy and sustainable food consumption. This review provides the most updated findings on sustainable diets by summarizing the most recent studies on its dimensions, the metrics used to determine and describe it and the shortcomings in this field. The literature reports the higher value of greenhouse gas emissions and land use for animal-source diets, either for selfselected diets or recommended dietary patterns. Water footprint of diets can vary a lot across countries and dietary patterns and is dependent on trading and food origin. The environmental impacts of diets have been merged to nutrient density indexes and morality rate, but indicators are not yet standardized and the literature presents a research gap in this field

IMPLEMENTATION AND INTEGRATION OF SUSTAINABILITY IN THE WINE INDUSTRY

Questo progetto ha lo scopo di delineare e rappresentare un quadro adatto a sostenere la transizione del sistema vitivinicolo italiano verso un modello sostenibile. A tal fine, ho sviluppato un disegno di ricerca interdisciplinare il cui percorso e risultati sono presentati nella tesi. Nel capitolo 1 viene mostrato il contesto in cui questa ricerca ha avuto origine e si è svolta. La parte introduttiva fornisce una panoramica sulla definizione giuridica di sostenibilità, su come la sostenibilità è intesa e adottata nel settore alimentare italiano e nell'industria del vino. In seguito, sono stati identificati i problemi e i gaps di ricerca rispetto all'integrazione della sostenibilità nel settore vitivinicolo italiano, questo è servito per identificare e delineare gli obiettivi della presente ricerca. Ho esaminato la relazione tra le aziende vinicole e i loro territori, considerando gli aspetti più cruciali dell'embeddedness locale e della sostenibilità delle aziende vitivinicole come la percezione del rischio legato all'esposizione ai pesticidi usati in agricoltura, la consapevolezza e l'impegno verso la responsabilità sociale d'impresa, e lo sviluppo di un quadro di riferimento volto a valutare la sostenibilità e a guidare le migliori pratiche nella produzione del vino.This project aims to outline and represent a suitable framework to support the transition of the Italian wine system towards a sustainable model. To this end, I framed an interdisciplinary research design whose path and results are presented herein. In Chapter 1, the context in which this research has originated and taken place is shown. The introductory part provides an overview about the pending legal definition of sustainability, how sustainability is intended and adopted in Italian food sector and in the wine industry. Afterwards, the research issues and gaps with respect to the integration of sustainability into the Italian wine industry were noted, this served to identify and clearly state the research objectives. I examined the relationship between wine companies and their territories, by considering the most crucial aspects of local embeddedness and wine companies sustainability such as the perception of risk related to the exposure to pesticides used in agriculture, the awareness and commitment on corporate social responsibility, and the development of a framework aimed at assessing sustainability and guiding best practices in wine production

Please keep ordering! A natural field experiment assessing a carbon label introduction

We conduct a natural field experiment investigating the efficacy of environmental information provision while considering its relationships with individual consumers’ habitual behaviour. A carbon label was introduced to the lowest-emission dish for each food category on the menu of a full-service restaurant; its efficacy was assessed by distinguishing its immediate impact on orders placed by the restaurant’s occasional and regular customers as well as the impact over time for repeated orders. We collected 1,737 customer orders – of which 1,200 were placed by 99 regular customers – taking advantage of an electronic ordering system that identified customers through a unique number. Independently of customer type, we find no immediate effect of the carbon label after its introduction. However, the probability of ordering an environmentally friendly dish increases significantly with repeated exposure and additional orders, albeit with a progressively diminishing effect. We discuss the importance of the repetition effect when assessing a new label, including implications for research and policy

Blockchain Technology in Wine Chain for Collecting and Addressing Sustainable Performance: An Exploratory Study

Sustainability standards have not yet been commonly adopted by the whole wine chain, and indicator assessments are not widely spread. A deep understanding of how embedding sustainability into business while controlling costs related to the adoption of sustainability certification standards such as data collection and management practices could allow one to overcome most barriers relevant to sustainability compliance. Blockchain technology (BCT) may answer these needs. In order to verify BCT potential to be used as a sustainability management tool in the wine industry, with a qualitative triple bottom line research approach, this article explores the connections among BCT adoption in agri-food, issues posed by wine sustainability certification, and whether wine companies that already own a wine sustainability certification are prepared to adopt it. Results show that (1) the blockchain allows collecting data and information that are relevant for monitoring and improving sustainability: Soil and water features, climate conditions, treatment with pesticides and fertilizers, production process, traceability, transparency, labor and human rights, quality and safety, waste reduction, authenticity, relationship with stakeholders; (2) wine companies that already own a sustainability certification have little familiarity with blockchain applications (57.1%, n.21) and only 14% of the respondents support their intention to invest in BCT in the coming years; (3) the case study shows improvements in traceability and transparency along the supply chain and an increase in consumers’ trust that was reflected in sales growth, and the main costs are linked to complexity in data management

Knowledge and attitudes about cancer pain management: a national survey of Italian oncology nurses

The purpose of this study was to obtain information about the knowledge and attitudes of Italian oncology nurses concerning cancer pain management and to determine the predictors of nurses' pain management knowledge. The study was a nationwide descriptive survey and included 287 nurses in Italy from 21 oncology wards in the north, center and south of Italy. The Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey (Italian version) and a background information form were used to collect the data. Knowledge and attitudes regarding cancer pain were the main research variables. Among the 39 pain knowledge questions assessed, the mean number of correctly answered question was 21.4 (SD=5.5), with a range of 6-35. The correct answer rate for the entire scale, on average, was 55% (SD=25.9). Further analysis of items showed that more than 50% of oncology nurses underestimated the patients' pain and they did not treat it in the correct way; they also had an incorrect self-evaluation about their pain management knowledge. Results from stepwise regression showed that nurses with higher mean correct answer scores had attended more courses about pain education. There are still significant knowledge deficits and erroneous beliefs that may hamper treatment of oncology patients in pain. The results of this study could be useful to institutions involved in patient care and teaching of pain management

The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in the Wine Industry: The Case Study of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia

This study aimed to investigate the awareness of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) among wineries located in the Italian regions of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia (FVG) (1), (2) the obstacles (3) and market drivers of its implementation (4), the practices and range of actions that are concretely implemented in the field of CSR (5), the implications that this management approach can have on company performance (6), and the communication tools used. The methodology adopted is based on a qualitative approach integrated with quantitative measures. In total, 28 wineries participated in the study. The results show that all of the wineries were aware of the importance of implementing CSR, although they mainly refer to environmental issues. Sponsorship in fair trade activities is considered the most relevant market driver, while Italian consumers are generally perceived as not particularly interested in sustainable wine production. The practices implemented are mainly focused on reducing environmental impact. Interesting insights have emerged from this study, such as an unusual disparity between theoretical knowledge and practical implementation of socially responsible activities, a tendency to adapt the entrepreneurial style towards CSR, as well as a fundamental willingness to implement good practices that go beyond the legal requirements currently in force

Validazione di uno strumento che misura le conoscenze e gli atteggiamenti degli infermieri italiani sulla gestione del dolore

Scopo: Validare in ambito italiano uno strumento che misura le conoscenze e gli atteggiamenti infermieristici nella gestione del dolore: il Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain attraverso la misurazione della validità di contenuto e di costrutto, l’affidabilità e la coerenza interna. Disegno:studio di validazione. Contesto: Reparti di oncologia, lungodegenza e cure palliative di 5 regioni italiane. Campione: 157 infermieri divisi in quattro gruppi: studenti infermieri (29), infermieri di lungodegenza (35), infermieri oncologici (43) e infermieri di hospice (50). Metodi: Il questionario è stato tradotto e adattato alla realtà italiana da esperti nel settore del dolore e con uno studio pilota. È stato somministrato all’intero campione, con un ritorno del 90%. Sono state calcolate la medie di risposte corrette e l’alfa di Cronbach. Agli infermieri di lungodegenza è stato somministrato il questionario una seconda volta a distanza di 10-14 giorni dalla prima compilazione per valutare la stabilità (r di Pearson). Risultati: Lo strumento discrimina tra i vari livelli di competenza nel dolore. La media delle risposte corrette del campione era del 52.7%; per gli studenti 40.7%, per gli infermieri di lungodegenza 46%, per gli infermieri di oncologia 56.3% e per gli infermieri di hospice 62% (P<0.001). La r di Pearson era pari a 0.97, l’alfa di crombach a 0.69. Conclusioni: Questi risultati contribuiscono a validare la versione italiana del Nurses’ Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain, a testimoniare le limitate conoscenze dei quattro gruppi di infermieri, a e fornire le basi per ulteriori studi in ambito oncologico e cure palliative

Residents non-dietary pesticide exposure risk perception survey: knowledge gaps and challenges for targeted awareness-raising material development

The object of this pilot study is to evaluate citizens risk perception of non-dietary exposure to pesticide, produce guidelines that can assist policy-makers and risk communicators in the development of targeted awareness-raising material for residents and bystanders

[Testing an instrument measuring Italian nurses' knowledge and attitudes regarding pain]

To test the construct validity, test-retest reliability, and internal consistency of the Nurses' Knowledge and Attitudes Survey Regarding Pain translated from English to Italian

Ethical and legal considerations for nutrition virtual coaches

Choices and preferences of individuals are nowadays increasingly influenced by countless inputs and recommendations provided by artificial intelligence-based systems. The accuracy of recommender systems (RS) has achieved remarkable results in several domains, from infotainment to marketing and lifestyle. However, in sensitive use-cases, such as nutrition, there is a need for more complex dynamics and responsibilities beyond conventional RS frameworks. On one hand, virtual coaching systems (VCS) are intended to support and educate the users about food, integrating additional dimensions w.r.t. the conventional RS (i.e., leveraging persuasion techniques, argumentation, informative systems, and recommendation paradigms) and show promising results. On the other hand, as of today, VCS raise unexplored ethical and legal concerns. This paper discusses the need for a clear understanding of the ethical/legal-technological entanglements, formalizing 21 ethical and ten legal challenges and the related mitigation strategies. Moreover, it elaborates on nutrition sustainability as a further nutrition virtual coaches dimension for a better society