Inform to form: the Altroconsumo challenge
More than just a magazine. Not just a consumer association, the first and most widespread in Italy with over 370 thousand members.
Altroconsumo, partner of Festival of Food Journalism, is a unique reality, precisely because of the ability to use information with a formative function, following the idea that citizens are stronger only if they are better informed. «Our organization was created to give a voice to consumers and today enjoys an authority that we have built over time - reflects Luisa Crisigiovanni, general secretary of the Association -. Every day, at our consulting center, where professionals and experts from different sectors work, we receive about 1.500 between calls and emails. Often these reports turn into useful ideas for investigations and investigations. The magazine is only part of our business, although I believe it represents the strongest weapon consumers have to make their voices heard. Communication is the best defense».
The food sector has often been at the center of the interest and the battles conducted by Altroconsumo, which bases its investigations on a work of capillary verification and control, based also on the instrument of comparative tests. "Talk about food - Explains Rosanna Massarenti, editor of the magazine - it means addressing the issue of equalities and inequalities. Do not limit yourself to a mere examination of the quality-price ratio, but enter into the respect of individual rights and the values of the community. Food is a universe to be explored from different points of view. In this, as in other sectors, we move with courage, denouncing what is not correct, at the cost of being unpopular. We try to tell what is true, not what people expect to hear».
Among the first associations to speak in Italy of food waste, Altroconsumo has also distinguished itself over time for the denunciation of the non-compliance with the rules in the administration of food; for the battles on the correct labeling of the products and the right information to the buyers; for the fight against obesity and incorrect food marketing campaigns; for a renewed attention to the issue of water quality, a key topic, of which little is still discussed in contemporary society and which will be one of the focus on which the association will focus in the coming months, through the preparation of a platform that will allow tests water in individual buildings or apartment buildings.
«On the subject of nutrition, our task - continues Luisa Crisigiovanni - it is not only to guide buyers in choosing a healthy and quality product, but also to guide them beyond the act of sale. Our accompaniment goes from the origins of a product chain to its actual consumption. We try to train and inform users about the "after purchase" rights, the correct reading of expiration dates and also the correct storage of food ". Rosanna Massarenti concludes: "We are convinced that our task should not be limited to giving a series of practical news, but should help build an individual critical awareness so that everyone is able to select the offer that is in front of the supermarket or on a website. Our key word, after all, is involvement. And from here we start for all our actions ".
