scholarly journals Disrupted food systems in the WHO European region – a threat or opportunity for healthy and sustainable food and nutrition?

Food Security ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 859-864
Author(s):  
Holly L. Rippin ◽  
Kremlin Wickramasinghe ◽  
Afton Halloran ◽  
Stephen Whiting ◽  
Julianne Williams ◽  
...  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Zurek ◽  
Aniek Hebinck ◽  
Adrian Leip ◽  
Joost Vervoort ◽  
Marijke Kuiper ◽  
...  

Steering the EU food system towards a sustainability transformation requires a vast and actionable knowledge base available to a range of public and private actors. Few have captured this complexity by assessing food systems from a multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective, which would include (1) nutrition and diet, environmental and economic outcomes together with social equity dimensions and (2) system interactions across country, EU and global scales. This paper addresses this gap in food systems research and science communication by providing an integrated analytical approach and new ways to communicate this complexity outside science. Based on a transdisciplinary science approach with continuous stakeholder input, the EU Horizon2020 project ‘Metrics, Models and Foresight for European SUStainable Food And Nutrition Security’ (SUSFANS) developed a five-step process: Creating a participatory space; designing a conceptual framework of the EU food system; developing food system performance metrics; designing a modelling toolbox and developing a visualization tool. The Sustainable Food and Nutrition-Visualizer, designed to communicate complex policy change-impacts and trade-off questions, enables an informed debate about trade-offs associated with options for change among food system actors as well as in the policy making arena. The discussion highlights points for further research related to indicator development, reach of assessment models, participatory processes and obstacles in science communication.


2020 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suellen Secchi MARTINELLI ◽  
Suzi Barletto CAVALLI ◽  
Rafaela Karen FABRI ◽  
Marcela Boro VEIROS ◽  
Amélia Borba Costa REIS ◽  
...  

Abstract The current scenario generated by the Covid-19 pandemic enhances the condition of food and nutrition insecurity due to the worsening of poverty, hunger and lack of access to food, as well as the excess consumption of foods considered unhealthy. The effects of the pandemic enhances the need for a new way of arranging the production, distribution and consumption of food, giving new meaning to the relationship between food, eating and the environment. Thus, it is suggested that a reflection be made on the strategies for the appropriate healthy, adequate and sustainable diet in Brazil to face this health emergency. Actions must be focused on the articulation of strategies that foster sovereignty, food and nutrition security and healthier and more sustainable food systems such as the strengthening of family farming; income assurance for the population; access to quality food; changes in the food environment; dissemination of information on healthy and sustainable food in official recommendations for the pandemic and food guides covering the entire food system, as well as food and nutrition education practices.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 3493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Racheal Akinola ◽  
Laura Maureen Pereira ◽  
Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi ◽  
Francia-Marié de Bruin ◽  
Loubie Rusch

Indigenous and traditional foods crops (ITFCs) have multiple uses within society, and most notably have an important role to play in the attempt to diversify the food in order to enhance food and nutrition security. However, research suggests that the benefits and value of indigenous foods within the South African and the African context have not been fully understood and synthesized. Their potential value to the African food system could be enhanced if their benefits were explored more comprehensively. This synthesis presents a literature review relating to underutilized indigenous crop species and foods in Africa. It organizes the findings into four main contributions, nutritional, environmental, economic, and social-cultural, in line with key themes of a sustainable food system framework. It also goes on to unpack the benefits and challenges associated with ITFCs under these themes. A major obstacle is that people are not valuing indigenous foods and the potential benefit that can be derived from using them is thus neglected. Furthermore, knowledge is being lost from one generation to the next, with potentially dire implications for long-term sustainable food security. The results show the need to recognize and enable indigenous foods as a key resource in ensuring healthy food systems in the African continent.


Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand

This paper traces the partnership between the University of Toronto and the non-profit Local Food Plus (LFP) to bring local sustainable food to its St. George campus. At its launch, the partnership represented the largest purchase of local sustainable food at a Canadian university, as well as LFP’s first foray into supporting institutional procurement of local sustainable food. LFP was founded in 2005 with a vision to foster sustainable local food economies. To this end, LFP developed a certification system and a marketing program that matched certified farmers and processors to buyers. LFP emphasized large-scale purchases by public institutions. Using information from in-depth semi-structured key informant interviews, this paper argues that the LFP project was a disruptive innovation that posed a challenge to many dimensions of the established food system. The LFP case study reveals structural obstacles to operationalizing a local and sustainable food system. These include a lack of mid-sized infrastructure serving local farmers, the domination of a rebate system of purchasing controlled by an oligopolistic foodservice sector, and embedded government support of export agriculture. This case study is an example of praxis, as the author was the founder of LFP, as well as an academic researcher and analyst.


Author(s):  
Zhaohui Wu ◽  
Madeleine Elinor Pullman

Food supply chain management is becoming a critical management and public policy agenda. Climate change, growing demand, and shifting patterns of food production, delivery, and consumption have elicited a series of new challenges, such as food security, safety, and system resiliency. This chapter first introduces the typical players in a food supply chain and examines the global food system characterized by consolidation and industrialization. It then discusses some critical topics of the sustainable food supply chain that aim to address these challenges. These topics include traceability, transparency, certification and standards, and alternatives to industrialized food systems, including cooperatives, community-supported agriculture, and roles of small and medium-sized growers in regenerative agriculture. The chapter ends with a discussion of several important emerging logistics management topics, including last-mile delivery, new technology, and cold chain management.


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