Food as an act of intergenerational justice

The Rector also pointed out that “if man is what he eats and if our humanity depends on responsibility towards others, then ensuring nutritional security is an act of universal and intergenerational justice.” For this reason, “combating food poverty and clinical malnutrition is not only a health objective, it is the only way to live in a society that can still call itself civilised.” It is necessary to assign importance to social and environmental sustainability, as well as economic sustainability, implying that development in the present should not be achieved at the expense of the future. “This refers to a principle of intergenerational justice, based on an alliance between generations.”

Chef Carlo Cracco also spoke about this in his opening speech, where he expressed the essence of cooking, which “is not just a set of techniques or an expression of individual creativity: it is above all a cultural heritage that develops and enriches itself through the transmission of knowledge, experience and values between teachers and students.” As the most significant figure in the alliance between generations, the chef recalled Gualtiero Marchesi, who “is not only a great chef, but also a master capable of training and inspiring entire generations of professionals.”

In the evolution that cuisine has undergone over time, Carlo Cracco placed great value on “the idea of a brigade that works as a team. Each person contributes their own talent, sensitivity and energy. My job as a chef is to create the conditions for these qualities to be expressed in the best possible way.”

According to the chef, the history of cuisine is the result of an alliance between generations, based on a very clear principle: “Innovation never arises in isolation, but from the encounter between experience and the future. Each generation builds its own path starting from the foundations laid by those who came before. It is precisely in this continuous dialogue between teachers and students, between organisation and creativity, between memory and change, that I recognise the true strength of gastronomic culture: an authentic alliance between generations.”

In her speech, Rector Beccalli did not fail to mention the new developments at the Piacenza-Cremona campus. In Piacenza, “the innovations will affect the Undergraduate degree programme in Economics and Management for Sustainability, the Undergraduate degree programme in International Management and the Graduate degree programme in Management. In Cremona, on the other hand, the Graduate degree programme in Management and Digital Innovation will be revamped.” Also in Cremona, “the Specialising Master Programme in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science for Businesses has been launched, the result of collaboration with the Politecnico di Milano, based on a genuine logic of co-opetition.” And in the Lombard city, thanks to the support of the Fondazione Arvedi Bruschini, a new residence will open next academic year, accommodating 70 students and Visiting Professors. In terms of research, 2025 was an exceptional year, “the best ever in terms of attracting resources and projects. A total of 177 new research projects were registered, worth almost €11 million,” said the Rector, without forgetting the University’s ongoing commitment to the Africa Plan with ten projects.

The mayor of Piacenza, Katia Tarasconi, the sole administrator of Epis, Monica Patelli, and former student and PhD student Rebecca Mariani also spoke at the dies academicus. The mayor reaffirmed that for a city like Piacenza, being able to count on a dynamic and qualified university is a great opportunity. It means attracting young people from many parts of Italy and also from abroad. It means generating cultural exchanges, relationships and new ideas.” The representative of Epis and president of the Province invited everyone to “work together, pooling everyone’s skills, especially those of our young people, who are both the present and the future, to offer our communities and citizens a Michelin-starred menu in which the territory and its people are the protagonists.” Rebecca Mariani closed the ceremony by describing the University as “a place where generations can dialogue, meet and sometimes clash, but always in a constructive way.”