After a year and a half of pandemic, the current economic, political, and social situation appears particularly complex.
The health emergency and the consequent containment measures implemented and still in place are increasingly affecting the world economy: the economic model based on the use of fossil fuels seems to have reached its final phase, and there is a growing sensitivity towards renewable energies.
At the same time, Italian agricultural production is increasingly conditioned by large-scale organized distribution (G.d.O), governed by the strategic logic of the “lowest price”.
This policy of the lowest price is among the main causes of the difficulties of our agriculture, which chooses to decrease the quality of products and protections for its workers. On the altar of the lowest price, even the most virtuous practices of our agriculture, including organic farming, are often sacrificed.
The situation becomes even more paradoxical when considering that the reduction of the use of agrochemicals in agriculture, since the late 1990s, was precisely requested by Italian and European organized distribution to respond to profound changes in consumer habits. In addition to reducing the percentages of chemical residues present in raw materials (30-50% of the maximum allowable residue limit), today many distribution chains, especially in Central and Northern Europe, also require the reduction of the maximum number of substances present and the exclusion of groups of chemicals considered particularly dangerous (although allowed by law[1]).
During the pandemic, health concerns regarding food consumption have increased exponentially, along with the growing demand for knowledge about territorial origins and production mechanisms of various supply chains.
Once again, Italian agriculture is proving capable of profound transformations.
The voluntary certification “Zero Residue” represents one of the most recent and interesting developments within the Italian production landscape, especially because the underlying values are perceived by consumers with greater ease and clarity.
The “Zero Residue” model responds to the demand for higher quality by offering a product that is safe and unchanged or transformed. “Zero Residue” is the guarantee that the food does not contain any pesticides or other chemical residues beyond the limit of analytical quantification, i.e., the limit of detectability.
The practice of “Zero Residue” is based on two fundamental pillars:
- Responsible production involves creating socially beneficial and environmentally and economically sustainable products and services.
- Responsible consumption involves abandoning the strategy of “impulse buying” based solely on packaging, presentation, and final product price. Instead, it is based on providing the consumer with accurate and comprehensive information on the safety of food products, their actual environmental, social, and ethical contents, and the supply chain process.
It should not be underestimated that for many producers, these are significant changes, but the food education inherent in these processes will produce greater protection both for the community and for the interests of the companies.
Regarding production processes, “Residuo Zero” has two clear and unambiguous objectives:
- Completely eliminate any chemical residues from the final product, i.e., bring them below the limits of detectability and analytical quantification.
- Throughout the entire supply chain, reduce chemical inputs even further, significantly surpassing the already excellent results achieved with “integrated pest management[2].” Whenever possible, completely eliminate the use of chemicals.
“Residuo Zero” thus:
- “Residuo Zero” is based on the application of sustainable agricultural methods, relying on specific technical knowledge and experience, and preferring non-chemical methods. It selects and further limits the use of synthetic chemical products, using pesticides chosen from those with low environmental impact and low residual effects, in order to obtain products completely free of detectable residues.
- It involves not only the participating agricultural companies, but also the processing industry, logistics that accompany agro-industrial development, and even the large and medium-sized distribution chains, as well as local markets.
- It applies modern technologies together with the expertise of farmers to ensure a quantity of output adequate to meet the needs of the community, without compromising on the final health aspects of the products.
- It seeks a synthesis between organic and integrated pest management. The aim of “Residuo Zero” is certainly not competition between the two agronomic production practices, but their fusion and harmonization in order to always and in any case guarantee the quality of the final product.
“As “Residuo Zero” represents the evolution of sustainable systems, those who request certification must have obtained, or concurrently request (and commit to maintain for the entire certification cycle), at least one of the following certifications:
- UNI 11233:09 “Integrated production systems in agri-food chains”
- SQNPI – “National Quality System for Integrated Production”
- A.P. – IFA – Fruit & Vegetable”
Those who apply for certification must draft a production specification, or similar documents, that describe the rules that must be followed in carrying out the main company activities to ensure the achievement of the established objectives.
The specification must make the product management system visible and transparent; make the execution of internal activities and controls systematic; promote staff training; periodically verify the conformity of the activities carried out; demonstrate the conformity of the activities carried out and the products obtained (also by implementing plans for sampling and analysis of the products); demonstrate the ability to maintain an efficient system for tracing certified products; demonstrate the ability to monitor and manage products that may not conform to the specification.
The first and substantial “certification” must be provided by the various actors themselves.
Certifications on quality and, in particular, on the absence of chemical substances, are now not only possible through the action of certifying bodies. It is now also possible to rely on a new technology capable of recording and therefore certifying each of the steps related to the transformation chain that brings agricultural products from the field to the sales counter, both in the context of large retailers and in any local market in a city.
By using the so-called “blockchain[3]” technology, it is possible to trace and verify in a transparent and incontrovertible manner every step of the production and transformation chain of the agricultural product.
The success and diffusion of “Residuo Zero” are intrinsically linked to the communication of its full significance, which goes well beyond food safety. The end consumer will need to have all the necessary information to define and qualify their purchase, especially those related to the presence of chemical substances in the products. Companies will therefore be called upon to describe and certify the characteristics and values of the product on the label, summarizing the entire supply chain process.
[1] The reduction of the use of agrochemicals (pesticides) as well as other chemical inputs represents one of the main objectives of sustainability policies at the global level, as far as the action of governments is concerned. See: “Agenda 2030” of the United Nations, the “Farm to Fork” strategy adopted by the European Commission in December 2019, which foresees a reduction of 50% of the overall use of agrochemicals and at least 20% of the use of fertilizers by 2030.
[2] Integrated pest management is a crop defense practice that involves a drastic reduction in the use of pesticides by implementing various measures. It starts from the awareness that when intervening in an ecosystem, trophic networks are altered. It exploits the biotic and abiotic factors of regulation within ecosystems to its advantage and uses all possible tools, not limiting itself to chemical means (biological, cultural, biotechnological…). This approach is predominantly used in the fight against insects, but can be extended to the fight against all harmful organisms (fungi, rodents, etc.). Its objective is to keep the harmful organism within a threshold, a limit beyond which the organism itself creates economic damage (it does not aim for eradication, but containment). The limits of integrated pest management are constituted by higher production costs, the need for qualified technical assistance, and the objective difficulty in certifying the product.
[3] The Blockchain (literally “chain of blocks”) leverages the characteristics of a computer network of nodes and allows to manage and update, in a unique and secure way, a registry containing data and information (for example transactions) in an open, shared and distributed manner.