Citation: Martella, A.; La Porta, I.M.; Nicastro, M.; Biagetti, E.; Franco, S. Ecological Balance of Agri-Food Supply Chains—The Case of the Industrial Tomato. Sustainability 2023, 15, 7846. https://doi.org/10.3390/ su15107846 Academic Editors: Dario Donno, Adriano Sofo and Gbekeloluwa B. Oguntimein Received: 3 March 2023 Revised: 26 April 2023 Accepted: 9 May 2023 Published: 10 May 2023 Copyright: © 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). sustainability Article Ecological Balance of Agri-Food Supply Chains—The Case of the Industrial Tomato Angelo Martella 1 , Ilenia Maria La Porta 1, *, Marco Nicastro 2 , Elisa Biagetti 1 and Silvio Franco 1 1 Department of Economics, Engineering, Society and Business Organization, University of Tuscia, Via del Paradiso 47, 01100 Viterbo, Italy 2 Cooperativa OP Mediterraneo, 71017 Torremaggiore, Italy * Correspondence: ilenia.laporta@unitus.it Abstract: Tomatoes are one of the major productions in Italy. One of the main cultivation areas is the southern plain of Capitanata (Puglia, Southern Italy). However, a series of impacts from cultivation to distribution are connected to this production. Different methodologies have been proposed to evaluate and quantify these impacts from the single product to the supply chain. This work proposes a methodology for assessing environmental sustainability, using the agri-food chain of industrial tomatoes in a specific area of Italy (Puglia) as a case study. The theoretical approach adopted refers to the paradigm of ecological economics, recalling the concept of strong sustainability through the conservation of natural capital and its non-replacement with economic capital. This condition can be assessed through the ecological balance tool by comparing the availability and use of natural capital in economic activities. The aim of this study was to understand the extent of the load generated on the environment, thus evaluating whether the carrying capacity of the agricultural system was able to support the environmental load of the entire supply chain. The results show an overall unsustainability of the entire supply chain with a value of EB = -1911.49 gha. The agricultural phase is the only one to present a positive value EB = +62.99 gha, which fails to compensate for the impacts of the transport (EB = -349.13) and industrial (EB = -1630.96) phases. To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess the sustainability of the tomato food chain using the ecological footprint method. In the agricultural sector, there is a constant search for tools capable of combining economic efficiency and environmental sustainability. In this sense, the ecological footprint methodology provides essential information that can be used by policymakers of different levels to define sustainable development strategies. Keywords: ecological footprint; industrial tomatoes; agri-food chain; sustainability 1. Introduction Many consumers are rediscovering the value of the food they buy and eat every day. This is the case with the tomato, which, due to its innumerable nutritional and antioxidant properties, is one of the most consumed vegetables. Italy is one of the most important producers in the world, together with the USA, China, Spain, Turkey, and Portugal [1]. It is the first country in Europe with a share of 27% of the total production in 2021 [2]. About 75% of this production is destined for indus- trial transformation, while the rest is destined for fresh consumption [3]. Geographically Italian production is highly concentrated: 33% of industrial tomatoes are localized in the Capitanata area (located in Puglia—Southern Italy) [4]. However, the tomato is considered a product with a great environmental impact due to the considerable use of irrigation water and fertilization [5]. It has been estimated that the amount of irrigation water needed varies between 400 and 600 mm per hectare [6]. This is a crucial aspect, considering the current water crisis and increasingly severe drought conditions. However, the impacts are not only connected to the agricultural phase. In the Sustainability 2023, 15, 7846. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15107846 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability