The First Course

2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-129
Author(s):  
Michelle Moon ◽  
Cathy Stanton
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Public History ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Living History ◽  
Historic Sites

The current enthusiasm for “local food” offers public historians an opportunity to strengthen civic dialogues about place, land and energy use, labor, economy, health, and governance. Moving beyond conventional exhibitry and living history approaches challenges public history practitioners and institutions to confront politicized “real-life” aspects of food systems, but it also offers important benefits to those engaged in the reshaping of both scaled-down food systems and civically engaged museums and historic sites. A nuanced, reflexive engagement with food and farm history can be a way to address much broader issues of economic, institutional, and environmental sustainability.

Conclusion

2019 ◽  
pp. 148-170
Author(s):  
David Schlosberg ◽  
Luke Craven
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Economic Insecurity ◽  
Production And Consumption ◽  
Sustainable Fashion ◽  
Prefigurative Politics ◽  
Local Impacts ◽  
Alternative Practices

We conclude with a discussion of the potential of the sustainable material movements we examine in local food systems, community energy, and sustainable fashion. The focus is on the breadth and diversity of the influence of such movements—from small-scale and local impacts on political engagement and environmental sustainability, to the economic empowerment of local businesses and its impact on economic insecurity, to larger issues of systemic change in production and consumption systems. We discuss both the actual potential, as well as the real critiques and limitations, of sustainable materialist action. And we end with a return to the value of positing possibilities, alternative practices, and prefigurative politics in social movements.

Public health promotion of “local food”: Constituting the self-governing citizen-consumer

2016 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen Derkatch ◽  
Philippa Spoel
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Lifestyle Behaviors ◽  
Local Public Health ◽  
Health Citizenship

This article explores how the recent and growing promotion of local foods by public health units in Ontario, Canada, rhetorically interpellates the “good” health citizen as someone who not only takes responsibility for personal health but, through the consumption and support of “local food,” also accepts and fulfills her responsibilities to care for the local economy, the community’s well-being, and the natural environment. Drawing on Charland’s concept of constitutive rhetoric, we analyze a selection of public health unit documents about local food to develop a textured account of the complex, multifaceted forms of health citizenship they constitute. Our analysis reveals that, despite their appeals to environmental sustainability and community well-being, these materials primarily characterize the ideal health citizen as an informed consumer who supports the interests of the neoliberal state through individualized lifestyle behaviors, consuming goods produced and distributed through private enterprise. By exhorting individuals to “buy local,” public health discourse therefore frames responsible health citizenship principally in consumerist terms that constrain the range of available options for citizens to engage in meaningful action vis-à-vis their food systems.

scholarly journals Municipal activities in local food systems: case study of Zemgale region

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dace Kaufmane ◽  
◽  
Liga Paula ◽  
Kaspars Naglis-Liepa ◽  
Liga Proskina ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Communities ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Local Food Systems ◽  
Special Events ◽  
Support Measures

According to the Actor Network Theory, the local food system is a set of interconnected processes and social agents including municipalities as a business environment. In the context of rural studies, support for local food producers is important for local communities. By content analysis of the information available on the websites of Zemgale region’s municipalities and the opinions of municipal specialists on local support measures for entrepreneurs, the aim of the paper was to identify the activities of municipalities in local food systems. Within a context of local food systems, the authors revealed that municipalities in Zemgale region provide support activities in two main directions: food businesses and tourism activities. The analysis of business support measures showed that local food producers in municipalities are promoted and supported in a number of ways through branding, special events and trade facilitation, seminars and annual awards. Activities in the field of tourism revealed cooperation, involving local food producers in the tourism system and ensuring the recognition of local food products to a wider group of consumers. Integrating local food businesses into tourism routes and thematic activities, in other words making locally produced food an integral part of the tourism product, develops small and medium-sized enterprises that contribute to the socio-economic resilience and environmental sustainability of rural communities, local innovations and creativity. In Zemgale, municipal activities for support of local food producers in the context of COVID-19 crisis are strengthening rural communities thus supporting and helping entrepreneurs to adapt to changes.

Disruptive innovation and operationalization in local and sustainable food systems: Examining the University of Toronto-Local Food Plus partnership

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-139
Author(s):  
Lori Stahlbrand
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Disruptive Innovation ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
University Of Toronto ◽  
The University

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.

scholarly journals (Re)Commoning Food and Food Systems. The Contribution of Social Innovation from Solidarity Economy

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 548
Author(s):  
Adanella Rossi ◽  
Mario Coscarello ◽  
Davide Biolghini
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Social Innovation ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Solidarity Economy ◽  
Sustainable Food Systems ◽  
Sustainable Food ◽  
Food Governance ◽  
Food Policies ◽  
Italian Context

The need for a transition to sustainable food systems is widely recognised. Over the last three decades, movements have been demanding and proposing a radical transformation, foregrounding the social values of food. Experiences inspired by solidarity economy have given rise to highly innovative pathways, grounded on the redefinition of the food-related values and practices and the reconstruction of local, community-based food systems by referring to social and ecological sustainability. One can usefully draw from these experiences for identifying challenges, opportunities and benefits and for analysing the most effective modes of action leading to the creation of alternatives. Capturing and supporting this innovation is particularly important when looking at the opportunities offered by local food policies. This significantly involves the meanings, goals and forms that food governance takes on. The paper aims at investigating these aspects, reading the initiatives inspired by SE principles as an example of social innovation. Their engagement in re-signifying food in terms of “commons” and in “commoning” food systems constitutes a complementary key of analysis. Focusing on the Italian context, the paper draws on many years of qualitative research and direct involvement in these initiatives. The analysis provides useful insights about the potential for change existing in society and invites us to develop reflexivity on how local food policies capture the opportunity for a re-politicisation of food-related issues.

An integrated approach to identifying and characterising resilient urban food systems to promote population health in a changing climate

2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 2498-2508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah W James ◽  
Sharon Friel
Keyword(s):  
Population Health ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Production Systems ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Integrated Analysis ◽  
Climate Resilience ◽  
Urban Food Systems

AbstractObjectiveTo determine key points of intervention in urban food systems to improve the climate resilience, equity and healthfulness of the whole system.DesignThe paper brings together evidence from a 3-year, Australia-based mixed-methods research project focused on climate change adaptation, cities, food systems and health. In an integrated analysis of the three research domains – encompassing the production, distribution and consumption sectors of the food chain – the paper examines the efficacy of various food subsystems (industrial, alternative commercial and civic) in achieving climate resilience and good nutrition.SettingGreater Western Sydney, Australia.SubjectsPrimary producers, retailers and consumers in Western Sydney.ResultsThis overarching analysis of the tripartite study found that: (i) industrial food production systems can be more environmentally sustainable than alternative systems, indicating the importance of multiple food subsystems for food security; (ii) a variety of food distributors stocking healthy and sustainable items is required to ensure that these items are accessible, affordable and available to all; and (iii) it is not enough that healthy and sustainable foods are produced or sold, consumers must also want to consume them. In summary, a resilient urban food system requires that healthy and sustainable food items are produced, that consumers can attain them and that they actually wish to purchase them.ConclusionsThis capstone paper found that the interconnected nature of the different sectors in the food system means that to improve environmental sustainability, equity and population health outcomes, action should focus on the system as a whole and not just on any one sector.

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