This paper draws on the theoretical framework based on social innovation determinants to analyze how and to what extent the recent and self-organized initiatives for food provisioning are contributing to increase food accessibility at the time of personal and mobility restrictions due to Covid-19. Based on this, the paper firstly maps the initiatives activated during the first months of the Covid-19 emergency (March and April 2020) in the urban–rural territories in the province of Naples (Italy). Secondly, it characterizes these initiatives in relation to their capacity to enhance outcome and social well-being, as well as to involve local society in answer to social challenges through a desk research. Thirdly, the paper describes the case of Masseria Ferraioli, which emerges as social innovative best practice among the previous mapped initiatives. Even in these days, the Masseria distributes to people who cannot afford the purchase due to the emergency vegetables grown on land confiscated from the Camorra, the local mafia. Its configuration as social innovative experience is also confirmed directly by the Masseria´s project manager, who was required to answer to a semi-structured interview. Based on the evidence of the desk research and this interview, the paper demonstrates the importance of the combined commitment of local communities and volunteering association as a reaction to food provisioning problems in the time of Covid-19, as well as an increasing interest in reconnecting with local food practices, above all when food access has become a priority.

The fisheries industry is currently characterized by a social context where levels of competitiveness and economic development must continue to grow, while simultaneously ensuring commitment to and guarantee of levels of environmental and social sustainability. Such businesses, demonstrate an elevated sensitivity to the territory in which they operate, voluntarily implementing corporate social responsibility (CSR) policies in a sustainable development and stakeholder engagement perspective. This study will analyse-through an empirical analysis developed in the Italian contextthe level of sustainable strategies and CSR of the large buyers in the fisheries industry, as well as willingness to invest to create a sustainable product. Using multivariate statistical techniques, such as principal component analysis and cluster analysis, we will identify the various groups of buyers in the adoption of sustainable strategies and CSR practices in their business.

In 2015, The United Nations adopted an agenda for sustainable development in order to obtain “a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and for the world now and in the future (United Nations). The United Nations has defined 17 main goals, such as ending poverty, improving health, preserving the ocean, and tackling the climate change, in order to achieve worldwide sustainable development. Sustainable development is a crucial worldwide topic that encompasses three dimensions: economic, social and environmental. Nowadays, social ecological innovation has envisaged a new prominent business model focusing on social and environmental goals to achieve sustainable development. The intent of this paper is to propose the community garden framework as a social and ecological innovation tool in order to boost sustainable development in urban areas as well as rural areas. For this purpose, an empirical analysis based on a structured interview was conducted in the area of Naples on a sample of 150 gardeners. The results of the interviews have been aggregated by using a variance and correlation analysis in order to explore to what extent the social and environmental dimensions are linked to the community gardens and to identify a pattern between community gardens and social ecological innovation. Two attributes of community gardens, that is, urbanization effects mitigation and wellness and community, were identified as having the ability to influence other community garden attributes. Thus, the paper suggests using these highly influential factors to define a social and ecological innovation strategy based on a community gardens framework.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the attitudes of people towards issues of food safety, food security and sustainability. For this, an empirical study was conducted on visitors to the event Milan Expo 2015. Particular attention was paid to any greater propensity to purchase products from socially responsible agri-food companies and whether the event might have contributed to enrich the baggage of their knowledge on the issues of sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) and to influence future buying behaviour. Design/methodology/approach Different groups of visiting consumers were identified through cluster analysis in order to segment and divide visitors into groups based on their approach to food safety, food security and sustainability, their willingness to pay for products from companies practising CSR, and the impact of the event on their future buying behaviour. Findings The results showed a positive attitude of respondents towards issues of food safety, food security and sustainability in general and to the purchase of sustainable food products. However, due to shortcomings in the communication strategy used by companies attending the event, the sample of visitors did not enrich their knowledge on sustainability and CSR. The impact of Expo 2015 on future buying behaviour was far from impressive. Originality/value The findings are particularly useful for the future development of the reputation and profitability of food companies, for the enrichment of knowledge concerning CSR-oriented food companies and to increase the price of products from socially responsible agri-food companies.

In the last years, sustainability has become a successful, relevant, critical factor in several food industries. The adoption of a sustainable marketing strategy contributes positively to changes in society in terms of environmental, social and economic development. The relationship between sustainability and business performance has been widely debated in management and organisational studies. However, despite its importance and relevance, fishery sustainability has not been systematically considered by scientific studies. This paper identifies and analyses the critical factors that describe the propensity towards sustainable development for large companies within the Italian fishery sector. For this purpose, the relationships among the following latent variables were analysed: sustainable social behaviour, sustainable environmental behaviour, sustainable marketing, and return on investment. A theoretical research model has been proposed and empirically tested using a methodology based on structural equation modelling.

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Consumers’ purchasing choices are no longer based only on economic factors but also on ethical reasons related to environmental sustainability and food safety. However, nutritional information on food labels is underused by consumers. Often the lack or incompleteness of information available on the market obstructs the complex transition towards sustainable consumption patterns. This empirical study analysed a sample of 359 consumers from an area in Southern Italy (city of Naples) to identify homogeneous consumer clusters with respect to the assessment of the level of consumer attention to sustainable environmental, social behaviours in daily life, and also to safety attributes. The most important sources of information influencing the consumers’ choices, food safety knowledge, and future purchasing behaviour were analysed. The research sample was self-selected, and the questionnaire for the survey was administrated through a non-probability sample from a reasoned choice. The results indicate that the ideal solution is a five-cluster partition that confirms a good level of attention to intrinsic attributes, in particular food expiry, transparency of food information, food traceability, and seller confidence. In addition, the research could provide an opportunity to consider collaborative actions between policy makers and industries to increase consumer awareness of environmental attributes.

The interviewed consumers have not enriched their knowledge on CSR due to the lack of an adequate communication strategy for both case studies. Consequently, to raise awareness on the subject, there is still a great deal of cooperation needed between public institutions, local communities, businesses and citizens.