Introduction

This chapter identifies the value chain as a model for analyzing food production seen from various standpoints: the producer, the consumer, the analyst. The model was originally conceived as an alternative to theories of comparative advantage, but we believe the two approaches can be combined. The book offers a vision of contemporary Italian food practices focusing especially on small-scale local producers representing a wide variety of agricultural practices. This includes urban agriculture which can be read through different lenses, including that of metabolic rift operating at multiple levels as it spreads through the empty spaces of the post-industrial landscape.