This paper assesses the contribution made by the cultivation of urban gardens to the food self-sufficiency of mountain municipalities at risk of food desertification during 2020 in South Tyrol (Italy). The pandemic-induced economic downturn and mobility restrictions have left more territories severely exposed to the adverse risk of food desertification. A food desert is a territory where people are food-insecure because of job/income loss or through the absence of food retail facilities. During lockdown, many non-essential firms were forced to close. This meant that many workers, especially those in more precarious positions, lost their jobs, while entrepreneurs had consistent financial shortcomings. Local population mobility was restricted to the municipality of residence, with reduced access to grocery stores outside that area. Disrupted food supply chains and panic buying stimulated short-term food shortages, emptied municipal food stores and meant that supplies often failed to meet local needs. This insecurity left mountain municipalities increasingly vulnerable to desertification. The most food-insecure areas are those that depend heavily on the tourism sector and those with limited access to food retail facilities or other organized forms of food supply in proximity. Their challenges through the period of Covid-19 have heightened questions about their access to food and possible initiatives to increase their food self-sufficiency. Among the initiatives most frequently debated in that period, gardening has been highly valued. This paper contributes to the debate by presenting a Decision Support System (DSS) that calculates the land required for food self-sufficiency in South Tyrolean municipalities and the percentage covered by the production of local urban gardens. The results demonstrate that urban gardens’ contribution to local food self-sufficiency is almost insignificant in these municipalities, representing less than 1 % of the municipal needs. Restricting the analysis to self-sufficiency in fruit and vegetable production only, findings derived from the DSS application confirm the insignificance of urban gardens’ production levels, which remains below 1 % of the municipal needs.

本文评估了 2020 年南蒂罗尔（意大利）城市花园种植对面临粮食荒漠化风险的山区城市粮食自给自足的贡献。大流行引发的经济衰退和流动限制使更多地区严重面临粮食荒漠化的不利风险。食物荒漠是人们由于工作/收入损失或缺乏食品零售设施而导致粮食不安全的地区。在封锁期间，许多非必要的公司被迫关闭。这意味着许多工人，尤其是那些处于更不稳定职位的工人失去了工作，而企业家则一直存在财务缺陷。当地人口的流动性仅限于居住的市政府，该地区以外的杂货店的访问量减少。食物短缺，清空了市政食品商店，意味着供应往往无法满足当地的需求。这种不安全感使山区城市越来越容易受到荒漠化的影响。最不安全的地区是那些严重依赖旅游业的地区，以及食品零售设施或附近其他有组织形式的食品供应有限的地区。他们在 Covid-19 期间所面临的挑战加剧了有关他们获得食物的机会以及提高粮食自给率的可能举措的问题。在那个时期最常争论的倡议中，园艺受到了高度重视。本文通过提出一个决策支持系统 (DSS) 为辩论做出贡献，该系统计算了南蒂罗尔城市粮食自给自足所需的土地以及当地城市花园生产所覆盖的百分比。结果表明，在这些城市，城市花园对当地粮食自给自足的贡献几乎微不足道，仅占城市需求的不到 1%。将分析仅限于水果和蔬菜生产的自给自足，DSS 应用程序得出的结果证实了城市花园的生产水平微不足道，仍然低于市政需求的 1%。占市政需求的不到 1%。将分析仅限于水果和蔬菜生产的自给自足，DSS 应用程序得出的结果证实了城市花园的生产水平微不足道，仍然低于市政需求的 1%。占市政需求的不到 1%。将分析仅限于水果和蔬菜生产的自给自足，DSS 应用程序得出的结果证实了城市花园的生产水平微不足道，仍然低于市政需求的 1%。