How can design discipline contribute to the sustainable food system transformation? A review of research projects in the Italian context

The road for the food system toward a more sustainable scenario requires consideration of all the stages of the food chain, with cooperation from all the disciplines to which the design can contribute. A literature review is conducted to identify research projects, limited to the Italian context, in the design field for the agri-food sector, where outputs can be diverse from objects. The goal is to understand how the design field can argue for a more sustainable scenario for the food system. The results give interesting insights into practices and actions just applied and reveal that most of them integrate reasoning over the food system's sustainability. Afterward, the results of the review are applied to reflect in a specific research context around the production of two typical Italian products in two different territories of the Veneto region: the hills at the foot of the mountains Dolomiti for Prosecco wine and a part of the big plain Pianura Padana on the banks of river Adige for Lusia salad. This paper gives insights for a reflection on the design for a sustainable food system and a territorial development that respects the planetary boundaries, ecological common goods, and social conditions of citizens.