Dispensa Sociale For The Garda Region

"Dispensa Sociale. Network actions to optimise food resources" is the new project by CAUTO and MAREMOSSO for Garda Sociale, the Special Consortium Company for Personal Services of the 22 Municipalities of the Garda Bresciano area.

The Dispensa Sociale, in the form and meaning conceived by MAREMOSSO and CAUTO, is a circular model that connects different stakeholders in the area and, through food, brings together social, environmental and interconnected action. The project reproposes the Dispensa Sociale logo with a restyling that communicates the purpose of activating network actions in the Garda area, while the circular economy, food and social ties activated by the Dispensa Sociale are represented by a new custom icon system that accompanies the project logo.

Experience, understanding the context and new solutions.

This project, strongly supported by the local authorities, is a synergistic action that more effectively deals with the new scenarios of economic emergency following the pandemic crisis, stimulating local networks of mutuality and subsidiarity.

In April 2020 the risk of poverty identified in the data analyses of various authoritative observers represented one Italian out of three being at risk of poverty and 6.5% of families being in absolute poverty (ISTAT study relating to the period immediately preceding the Coronavirus); 20-50% more people asked for food support, especially the elderly and vulnerable people – (Caritas Nazionale); one child in seven is in poverty (from the OECD Report Italy is above the Eurostat average), 30 thousand fewer businesses according to data from Unioncamera. Today we are faced with 390 thousand fewer companies according to Unioncamera analysis and new there are new problems to be faced. In the Garda area, the requests for support and the access to the different measures promoted by the single municipalities have been significant, demonstrating how the issue of supporting access to food resources, but also to relational support, must be a widespread priority in social interventions today.

To date, around 30 donor companies (including large-scale distribution, food companies, farmers and individual shopkeepers) in the Garda area regularly donate food to the Dispensa Sociale and, since the start of the pandemic, the Dispensa Sociale has been working alongside 13 local associations and has been able to double the scope of its intervention, managing to involve around twice as many associations with greater impact on users in terms of both the quality of the food distributed and its quantity.

Circular economy as a community driver

The new Dispensa Sociale project, promoted by the Azienda Speciale Garda Sociale and supported by the 22 Garda municipalities, will enhance the existing resources by incorporating the needs of the associations and individual areas collected in recent months. It will also be done in a differentiated manner.