Combating food poverty through education, a healthy and balanced diet, and job placement. This is the goal of the "Never Hunger Again: From Emergency to Independence" project, which is launching in Naples. The initiative, led by the organization "Azione contro la fame" (Action Against Hunger) and local partners such as the Foqus Foundation and L'Altra Napoli, begins in the Spanish Quarters and the Forcella district with the aim of developing long-term solutions to support the basic needs of vulnerable families.
The lines of the intervention, lasting 4 months, include: a contribution to weekly shopping to provide immediate nutritional support; the promotion of nutritional education to encourage the adoption of a healthy and balanced diet; training to improve personal, social and professional skills with a group path aimed at reactivating motivation and enhancing the soft skills of the beneficiaries so that they can find employment.
“In Italy, more and more vulnerable families are forced to reduce their daily meals and impoverish their diet,” said Simone Garroni, director of Action Against Hunger. “It is a real emergency to which this project has demonstrated its ability to respond in an innovative and effective way by bringing together local networks, companies and programme participants to build long-term food security and enable them to definitively escape the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger.”
The project, already successfully tested in other countries and in Italy in the city of Milan, has been awarded the 'RegioStar' Prize by the European Union as a "good practice for promoting inclusive growth". The intervention, which makes connections with the territory one of its main strengths, is supported by a network of partner companies that guarantee not only funds, but also skills, tools and concrete opportunities for job placement.
“The exchange of good practices between cities – highlighted the deputy mayor of Milan, Anna Scavuzzo, who spoke via video link – and the creation of effective networks and partnerships is what characterizes the work of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and the Food Policy of Milan, in particular with regard to the theme of reducing food waste and food aid through the neighborhood hubs launched in Milan and in which 'Azione contro la fame' has also been inserted. We are happy that Naples has also chosen to welcome an experience that has given tangible and continuous results over time”.
"The fight against the food emergency is perhaps the most important battle in the fight against economic marginalization - highlighted Antonio Lucidi, vice president of L'Altra Napoli - this project represents an open challenge in places where poverty and hunger are widespread. The action also comes to life through an important synergy of territorial network in which the Institutions play a major role".
