Food Decision-Making Framework: Connecting Sustainable Food Systems to Health and Well-Being

2008 ◽  
Vol 3 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 328-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ardyth H. Gillespie ◽  
Laura E. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Decision Making Framework ◽  
Health And Well Being

scholarly journals Bridging Sustainability and Food Security Ideas Towards Building Sustainable Food Systems

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Majing Oloko
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Security Assessment ◽  
Assessment Framework ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Nutritional Security ◽  
Food And Nutritional Security ◽  
Health And Well Being

Having stable access to nutritious and culturally preferred food to maintain health and well-being is still a challenge for many people across the globe. Food insecurity and environmental degradation is rising across the world with interrelated drivers. There has been increasing advocacy for the creation of sustainable food systems to support food and nutritional security without degrading the environment. Bridging sustainability and food security ideas is a step towards building such food systems. However, how to apply ideas of sustainability and food security into building sustainable food systems remains a challenge, given the connection between the two concepts is not well appreciated. I introduce a sustainability and food security assessment framework as a first step for bridging sustainability and food security concepts, towards building sustainable food systems.

scholarly journals Food Counts: Food systems report cards, food sovereignty and the politics of indicators

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles Z. Levkoe ◽  
Alison Blay-Palmer
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Food Sovereignty ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Report Card ◽  
Report Cards ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
International Panel ◽  
Using Data

The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems recognized that "current systems will be held in place insofar as these systems continue to be measured in terms of what industrial agriculture is designed to deliver, at the expense of many other outcomes that really matter in food systems" (IPES 2016: 57). In response, they called for new food systems indicators rooted in social justice, support for local economies, ecological regeneration and democratic engagement. This paper reflects on the ways that indicators can serve as a tool to understand the current state of food systems, challenge existing approaches and (re)frame a future vision of equity and sustainability. Our analysis focuses on the development of Food Counts: A Pan-Canadian Sustainable Food Systems Report Card, a first attempt to bring together existing measures of social, environmental, and economic well-being to help researchers, policy makers, and practitioners examine food systems more comprehensively. The report card used a food sovereignty framework and an integrated systems perspective and make connections to a global movement for collective social change. Beyond its practical value, and particularly in the context of Canada's development of a national food policy, our analysis illuminates the limited kinds of data available, the privileging of scientific expertise over traditional knowledge, the assumed value of certain indicators, and the reductionist nature of using data to represent complex food systems. We argue that while report cards can make visible numerous food systems' elements, they can also obscure divers experiences, reinforcing unsustainable practices and policies.

scholarly journals Cognitive Maps Across Multiple Social Sectors: Shared and Unique Perceptions on the Quality of Agricultural Soils in Mexico

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise Arroyo-Lambaer ◽  
Adriana Uscanga ◽  
Víctor M. Piña Tejeda ◽  
Valeria Vázquez-Barrios ◽  
Frédérique Reverchon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Agricultural Soils ◽  
Cognitive Maps ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Community Perception ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Views And Perceptions ◽  
Social Sectors

Incorporating the views and perceptions of local farmers and other actors with stakes in agricultural production is critical for better-informed decision making and tackling pressing issues, such as soil degradation. We conducted a study that sought to integrate and analyze perceptions regarding the quality and degradation of agricultural soils across different social sectors in Mexico, including producers of two annual crops (maize and beans) and two perennial crops (coffee and avocado), members of civil society organizations and members of the Federal Government. We analyzed the community perception using Cognitive Maps and network metrics. Our fully documented method to formally gather and analyze local and regional perceptions can be used in future efforts toward the collective design of sustainable food systems. Our results highlighted common and potentially conflicting aspects among the different perceptions and allowed us to identify and discuss drivers and processes of special interest in different regions in Mexico. This study also contributes to a deeper understanding of the current situation of agricultural soils in Mexico and seeks to inform the decision-making process regarding agricultural management in the country.

scholarly journals Serving Social Justice: The Role of the Commons in Sustainable Food Systems

2011 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Sumner
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Local Economies ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Clean Air ◽  
The Commons

Food is a source of sustenance, a cause for celebration, an inducement to temptation, a vehicle for power, an indicator of well-being, a catalyst for change and, above all, a life good.  Along with other life goods such as potable water, clean air, adequate shelter and protective clothing, food is something we cannot live without.  The global corporate food system, however, allows 800 million to go hungry, while an even larger number of people grow obese.  Based in money-values, this food system promotes accumulation first and foremost, enriching a few while creating economic, social and environmental externalities that are destroying local economies, devastating individuals, families and communities and degrading the planet. What would a food system look like that was based in life-values, centred on the commons and anchored by social justice?  This paper will focus on the creation of sustainable food systems, beginning with the crises of the global corporate food system and then moving to the heart of sustainable food systems – the civil commons.

scholarly journals Healthy sustainable food patterns and systems: a planetary urgency

Medwave ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (07) ◽  
pp. e8436-e8436
Author(s):  
Mariane Lutz
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Eating Habits ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
World Population ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Healthy Eating Habits ◽  
The Impact

Food choice impacts human health and planetary sustainability. The feeding patterns that reduce risk factors for noncommunicable diseases and various mortality causes are recognized as healthy eating habits. The average world population is far from reaching these habits due to the lack of access to healthy foods and a high prevalence of malnutrition. Understanding the impact of healthy sustainable food systems is growing worldwide to reach food security for the global population and future generations. A systemic perspective of this concept includes the health and well-being of individuals and the environmental, economic, socio-cultural, public policies context, besides food, agriculture, and ecological sciences. We need to confront the menaces and challenges represented by the ongoing changes of our era, which strongly generate global food insecurity. This issue is relevant not only for human health but also for climate change and other threats, based on modifications in production, handling, and consumption of foods that consider health and welfare impact at individual and planetary levels. In this review, some key concepts related to healthy and sustainable food systems are presented.

scholarly journals Teaching an interdisciplinary course in sustainable food systems: science and history meet in “a world that works”

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
David M. Blodgett ◽  
Marjorie N. Feld
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Environmental Science ◽  
Food System ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Systems Science ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Content Type

Purpose The sustainability of the global food system hinges on its environmental resiliency and safety, including the health and well-being of its labor force. Single disciplinary courses in liberal arts or science often fail to highlight the overlap between environmental and social vulnerabilities that lead to food insecurity and diminish the sustainability of food systems. This paper aims to present the design and delivery of a successfully co-taught, interdisciplinary module on agricultural labor and sustainable food systems as a case study. Design/methodology/approach The authors designed a co-taught module in which they joined each other’s respective history and science class sessions at the undergraduate business college where they teach. Innovating the cross-disciplinary content of food security, immigration status, labor exploitation and pesticide exposure, they approached sustainability from the disciplinary perspectives of labor history and environmental science to show how these elements had both unique and overlapping impacts across food systems levels. Comparisons between pre- and post-module survey responses, alongside assessments of a co-authored exam question, measured the effectiveness of this module is changing students’ perspectives as food consumers and as citizens. Findings This module altered students’ understanding and perspectives around issues of food systems sustainability. Assessments indicated that students increased their awareness of agricultural workers at the front end of the food system, during production; students also gained awareness beyond consumption as they came to see the connections between workforce invisibility and ecosystem degradation. Originality/value These insights are valuable to educators at all institutional levels who seek to collaborate on sustainability initiatives and teaching, both in the singular, robust modules and in building modules that will lead to the development of entire courses focused on sustainability. The module described here builds on previous demonstrations of the value, significance and effectiveness of cross-disciplinary collaborations; it pioneers the use of the food system as the link between social and environmental sustainability education.

scholarly journals Domain E: Equity

2020 ◽  
pp. 113-127
Author(s):  
Colin Ray Anderson ◽  
Janneke Bruil ◽  
M. Jahi Chappell ◽  
Csilla Kiss ◽  
Michel Patrick Pimbert
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
International Policy ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Major Barrier ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Knowledge Governance ◽  
Unequal Access ◽  
Policy Arenas

AbstractIn this chapter, we examine how marginalization and inequity—from international policy arenas to the household level and along the intersecting dimensions of gender, age, class and caste, religion, health and race—pose a major barrier to the development of sustainable food systems. The more transformative edges of the agroecology movement are advancing feminist, decolonial and anti-racist approaches that move the analysis from the centres of power to the margins where the hitherto excluded and oppressed are claiming power. Inequity manifests in overt discrimination as well as unequal access to resources and decision-making power at the household or farm level or to markets, credit, knowledge, governance, relations and other resources at the community or territorial level. In the absence of a focus on equity, efforts to advance agroecology risk exacerbating inequity.

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