The literature on environmental policy shows that institutional arrangements are key in designing effective environmental policies. Besides regulation and market (Coasian) solutions, grass root collective action has been advocated as a possible solution for the provision of agro-environmental public goods. We gauge that the same institutional arrangement can be found in many territorially integrated food chains that aims at re-embedding food production in the local society. Building on this literature, we present a case study - a short supply chain for bread production from ancient local wheat landraces in Tuscany – emphasizing the role played by collective action in maintaining high quality production in a context of severe information asymmetries.