Social enterprise, sustainability and community in post-earthquake Christchurch

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tracy Berno
Keyword(s):  
Food Systems ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Community Resilience ◽  
Social Entrepreneurs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Food System ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Post Disaster

Purpose Since 4 September 2010, the greater Christchurch region has endured a series of destructive earthquakes. As a result, food resilience, as a component of community resilience, has become highly relevant. This paper aims to explore the role of social entrepreneurs and the local food system in building community resilience. Design/methodology/approach Using a quasi-case study method, four social enterprise food initiatives are presented to illustrate conceptually how these local food systems contribute to community resilience in the post-earthquake context in Christchurch. Findings The results suggest that a generation of social entrepreneurs have emerged, giving rise to networked local food system initiatives that share the common goals of building multiple and unique forms of capital (human, social, natural, financial and physical). In doing so, they have contributed to creating conditions that support community resilience as both a process and an outcome in post-earthquake Christchurch. Research limitations/implications This research included only four enterprises as the case study, all located in central Christchurch. As such, the results are indicative and may not represent those found in other contexts. Practical implications The research suggests that social entrepreneurs make a significant contribution to both enhancing food security and building community resilience post-disaster. How policy infrastructure can empower and enable entrepreneurs’ post-disaster warrants further consideration. Social implications Collectively, the four enterprises included in the research were found to have created local solutions in response to local problems. This embeddedness with and responsiveness to the community is a characteristic of resilient communities. Originality/value Post-earthquake Christchurch is a living laboratory in relation to understanding community resilience. The processes by which it is occurring, how it is sustained over time and the shapes it will take in the future in such a dynamic environment are not yet understood. This paper contributes to understanding local food systems as part of this process.

scholarly journals Cost-benefit analysis as a tool for measuring economic impacts of local food systems: Case study of an institutional sourcing change

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Zoë Plakias
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Ohio State University ◽  
State University ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Local Food System ◽  
Local Sourcing

Universities continue to expand their local food sourcing, but the impacts of these sourcing changes are ambiguous. Some academics have measured these impacts using input-output analysis methods to track economic indicators that may be of interest to local communities. However, these studies do not capture nonmarket benefits of local food system investments or answer the broader question of whether local sourcing benefits society as a whole, both of which can be addressed using cost-benefit analysis. This paper explores cost-benefit analysis as an additional tool for measuring the economic impacts of local food investments, using a sourcing change by The Ohio State University as a case study. It builds on recent theoretical applied economics literature on the welfare impacts of local food sourcing and sheds light on important trade-offs of local sourcing that institutions and other buyers may want to consider. Employing data provided by Ohio State University Dining Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, I use a Monte Carlo simulation approach that accounts for uncertainty and allows for exploration of many scenarios. In more than half of the scenarios, local sourcing yields a net loss to society. However, additional research is needed by economists and others to enable local food system stakeholders to more easily and accurately conduct this work and add cost-benefit analysis to their project evaluation toolkit.

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.

Small, Slow, and Local: Essays on Building a More Sustainable and Local Food System

2011 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 353
Author(s):  
Mary Jane Angelo ◽  
Amelia Timbers ◽  
Matthew J. Walker ◽  
Joshua B. Donabedian ◽  
Devon Van Noble ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Local Food System

scholarly journals The rise of the local food movement and its impact on rural economies: With examples from the Region of Durham

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 98
Author(s):  
Stacey Jibb
Keyword(s):  
Government Policy ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Local Economy ◽  
Personal Relationships ◽  
Local Food Movement ◽  
Local Food System ◽  
Rural Economies ◽  
Food Economy ◽  
Food Movement

<p>Rural economies across North America continue to see the positive impacts of the rise of the local food movement and the evolution of the local food system. Local food is a fluid definition impacted by several factors. Government policy, geography and the personal relationships that develop between producer and consumer all play a part in shaping what is local. This has altered how consumers interact with the local food economy and has given rise to direct-farm marketing and agri-tourism as ways to participate in the local food system. Using examples from northern Durham Region, this paper examines how rural economies are impacted by the growing demand for access to local food and how that translates into direct impacts for the local economy. </p><p><strong>Keywords: </strong>local food, local food movement, rural economies, direct-farm marketing, food economy</p>

What Is Our Culture? I Don’t Even Know

2019 ◽  
pp. 69-90
Author(s):  
Ashanté M. Reese
Keyword(s):  
Food Access ◽  
Food System ◽  
Local Food ◽  
Community Building ◽  
Local Food System ◽  
Self Reliance

This chapter turns to the role of nostalgia in placemaking, community building, and the ways residents evaluated their local food system. In it, residents discuss self-reliance as a foundational ethos in the neighborhood’s history and also offer critiques of themselves and each other for not embodying self-reliance in the present, reflecting on the question “who is responsible?” for unequal food access. This chapter makes a claim that nostalgia plays an important role in the stories that people tell about food in the neighbourhood.

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