From farm to fork: Fighting grain wastage in pre- industrial times (Northern Italy: 16th– 19th centuries)

While intentional food waste embodies a fairly recent attitude, unintentional and physiological food loss has a long and fascinating history. Food loss, rather than food waste, is the historical component of food waste. Far from the misconception we have today, historical times—albeit marked by famine and scarcity—witnessed great wastage of grain. The latter then took place all along the supply chain, from field to retail, without any involvement of the end consumer. Choosing the Italian Peninsula of modern times as a case study, this contribution delves into the cereal chain—especially wheat—to better analyse its ‘intrinsic’ waste rate, focusing on the wide range of strategies implemented to minimise waste at every single step. The typical enemies of food waste are the same as today: plant diseases, climatic adversities, and, above all, pests. This chapter will attempt to shed light on all the procedures and actions undertaken relentlessly to minimise their damage during seed selection and treatment, sowing, crop management, and harvesting, through storage and first processing. The know-how and procedures described here come from northern Italy and focus on a time span from the 16th to the end of the 19th century.