Food production, preparation and consumption should be considered from a local perspective, in relation to patterns of resource use and the socio-cultural dimensions of agro-pastoral production, with a view to enhancing the social and ecological sustainability of the production chain.

Furthermore, understanding the socio-cultural relations between food, diets, social groups, and territories means first coming to terms with the modern-day divide between food and those who consume it, between the areas where food is produced and the cultural systems to which it belongs. It is key to explaining new food and dietary habits, bringing to light the value of specific products and their peculiarities, designing suitable marketing strategies, and developing connections among individual life stories, collective lifestyles, food aesthetics, and what we refer to as “local traditions”.

Food accessibility, the knowledge of the supply and consumption strategies, and needs and preferences of various metropolitan populations are crucial aspects to provide products which can address deficiencies, meet consumers’ interests, and plan an appropriate food supply.

Starting from these information it is possible to enhance both the product range and the diet variety, and to define new strategies of food governance suitable for the local context and the targeted consumers.

Food is a key driver of the local socio-economic development, and it is an important factor of territorial attractiveness, which can attract tourists looking for typical culinary experiences and flavors.

The analysis of the relations between producers and consumers, local food networks, and enogastronomic tourism is therefore crucial to the development of innovative, sustainable and embedded in the territory food economies.

Just as as other stimuli in the environment different aspects of food are represented by our brain in its complex networks, in order to produce certain beliefs, memories and behaviors. Cognitive neuroscience has revealed much about how the brain integrates information from multiple sources to create our perception of the external world.

In order to promote healthy diets, it is essential to understand consumers’ perceptions of and responses to new and old foods. Cognitive neurosciences can offer theories and advanced research techniques to address this aspect from a scientific point of view.

The different features of a product, such as its color, shape, smell, tactile feel, sound and so on, are rarely processed in isolation by our neural system.

A neurocognitive analysis of consumers’ multisensory perceptions of food allows to promote new food or ways of consumption and improve the diets of modern society. This analysis also needs to take into account demographic aspects, such as age, given that the sensorial, motivational and cognitive processing by the brain changes a lot from youth to elderness, leading to different taste, preferences and behaviors. Only by taking into account all of these aspects it will be possible to fully understand habits, choices, necessities and limitations of the whole population with respect to food consumption.