Feeding the Blocks: A Methodological Rethink of Neighbourhood Food Aid in Rome

Food insecurity, far from characterizing exclusively developing countries, persists and is increasing in most advanced economies. In the latter, a hybrid public-private system has been implemented to address food insecurity. The case of the Metropolitan City of Rome (Italy) is examined, where public food aids and private donations are distributed to the people in need by a capillary network of civil society organizations strongly structured at the local level. The study aim is twofold: firstly, a detailed description of the functioning of the food aid supply chain in Italy is provided; secondly, a new methodology combining geographic and social proximity is introduced to analyse patterns of collaboration and competition between the actors involved. In the final section, the preliminary results are presented.