Farm to Institution to Farm: Circular Food Systems With Native Entomoculture

Edible insects recycle food waste, which can help feed a hungrier planet by making food systems more circular and diversifying protein production. The potential for entomophagy (i.e., insect cuisine) to contribute to waste recycling and lower input food production is only beginning to be explored in the U.S., although insects have been consumed by people for millennia in a wide range of cultures. In this perspective piece, we consider as a case study the potential for university foodservice programs in New England to serve as incubators for circular entomophagous food systems. Students are likely early adopters of entomophagy because they increasingly demand sustainable non-meat protein options. University foodservices meanwhile purchase large amounts of food wholesale from local producers, utilize standardized pre-processing, and generate consistent waste streams which may be valuable feed for local insect farmers. Current Farm to Institution approaches strengthen regional food systems by connecting small farmers with university foodservices; we argue that a similar model (Farm to Institution to Farm) could support establishment of local insect farms, introduce edible insects to a relatively receptive base of university student customers, and provide a more sustainable mechanism for repurposing university food waste as insect feed. But to enable this type of food system, additional requirements include: (1) research on domestication of native insect species; (2) investment in processing capacity, ensuring new insect farmers have reliable markets for raw insect products; (3) infrastructure to recirculate waste streams within existing food systems; and (4) creation of recipes that entice new insect consumers.

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Moving local food through conventional food system infrastructure: Value chain framework comparisons and insights

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems ◽

10.1017/s1742170510000384 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 26 (1) ◽

pp. 13-23 ◽

Cited By ~ 74

Author(s):

J. Dara Bloom ◽

C. Clare Hinrichs

Keyword(s):

Value Chain ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Local Food ◽

Direct Marketing ◽

Urban Region ◽

Regional Food ◽

Wide Range ◽

Regional Food Systems

AbstractThere is growing recognition that the direct marketing initiatives favored by many local food activists and proponents often lack the capacity to meet rapidly expanding consumer demand for local food. To address these needs, some food systems researchers have identified a role for ‘transitional’ food systems that piggyback on the pre-existing, conventional local food system infrastructure, while moving toward the social and economic benefits of direct marketing. This paper uses a value chain model (based on business management studies and adapted to the context of agrifood enterprises) as a framework for investigating how actors who are accustomed to working within the logic of the traditional produce industry incorporate local food into their overall operations. Using a qualitative comparative case study approach, the paper examines how features of the value chain structure and governance mechanisms operate in two food distribution networks that are transitioning toward localization in a rural and an urban region of Pennsylvania, respectively. Case study analysis focuses on conventional wholesale produce distributors as the link between local producers and local buyers. Interviews with the distributors, producers and buyers reveal the sources and outcomes of challenges affecting how the distributors organize their purchasing and selling of local produce. Network practices, in turn, have equity implications as distributors struggle to pay producers enough to maintain their economic viability, while still making local produce accessible to a wide range of consumers. Policy-makers and practitioners seeking to support the ‘scaling up’ of local and regional food systems should consider targeted development of technical infrastructure in processing and distribution, as well as outreach on appropriate shared ownership models. Future research should be longitudinal to determine the longer-term role and contribution of the conventional food system infrastructure in transitioning to more sustainable local and regional food systems.

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Toxicants, entanglement, and mitigation in New England’s emerging circular economy for food waste

Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences ◽

10.1007/s13412-021-00742-w ◽

2022 ◽

Author(s):

Cindy Isenhour ◽

Michael Haedicke ◽

Brieanne Berry ◽

Jean MacRae ◽

Travis Blackmer ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New England ◽

Food Waste ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Food Systems ◽

Agricultural Soils ◽

Biological Systems ◽

Waste Recycling ◽

Structural Barriers ◽

Food Waste Recycling ◽

Fundamental Tension

AbstractDrawing on research with food waste recycling facilities in New England, this paper explores a fundamental tension between the eco-modernist logics of the circular economy and the reality of contemporary waste streams. Composting and digestion are promoted as key solutions to food waste, due to their ability to return nutrients to agricultural soils. However, our work suggests that food waste processors increasingly find themselves responsible for policing boundaries between distinct “material” and “biological” systems as imagined by the architects of the circular economy—boundaries penetrable by toxicants. This responsibility creates significant problems for processors due to the regulatory, educational, and structural barriers documented in this research. This paper contributes to scholarship which suggests the need to rethink the modernist logics of the circular economy and to recognize the realities of entangled material and biological systems. More specifically, we argue that if circularity is the goal, policy needs to recognize the barriers food waste processors face and concentrate circularity efforts further upstream to ensure fair, just, and safe circular food systems.

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The Economic, Social, and Environmental Impacts of Farmers Markets: Recent Evidence from the US

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13063423 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (6) ◽

pp. 3423

Author(s):

Phillip Warsaw ◽

Steven Archambault ◽

Arden He ◽

Stacy Miller

Keyword(s):

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Agricultural Practices ◽

The United States ◽

Current Evidence ◽

Farmers Markets ◽

Future Research ◽

Regional Food ◽

Recent Scholarship ◽

Fresh Food

Farmers markets are regular, recurring gatherings at a common facility or area where farmers and ranchers directly sell a variety of fresh fruits, vegetables, and other locally grown farm products to consumers. Markets rebuild and maintain local and regional food systems, leading to an outsized impact on the food system relative to their share of produce sales. Previous research has demonstrated the multifaceted impacts that farmers markets have on the communities, particularly economically. Recent scholarship in the United States has expanded inquiry into social impacts that markets have on communities, including improving access to fresh food products and increasing awareness of the sustainable agricultural practices adopted by producers, as well developing tools for producers and market stakeholders to measure their impact on both producers and communities. This paper reviews the recent scholarship on farmers markets to identify recent trends and synthesizes the current evidence describing the ways in which farmers markets contribute to the wellbeing of their communities, as well as identifying areas for additional future research.

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Moving from Niche to Norm: Lessons from Food Waste Initiatives

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13147667 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (14) ◽

pp. 7667

Author(s):

Lusine H. Aramyan ◽

Gonne Beekman ◽

Joris Galama ◽

Sandra van der Haar ◽

Maarten Visscher ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Behavioural Change ◽

Policy Instruments ◽

Transition Process ◽

Personal Factors ◽

Success Traits

For a transition to a circular economy to take place, behavioural change from people who are part of the transition is a key requirement. However, this change often does not occur by itself. For systemic behavioural change, policy instruments that incentivise behaviour supporting circular food systems play a key role. These instruments need to be aligned with the environment in which the behaviour takes place. In this study, we scrutinise a case study with five initiatives on the reduction of food loss and waste (FLW) contributing to a circular food system, to understand how specific, well-targeted combinations of instruments as well as other contextual and personal factors can fuel the transition to a circular economy and the reduction of FLW. All the initiatives are taking place under the umbrella of the Dutch initiative “United against food waste” (STV). We use a behavioural change perspective to assess how initiatives that support circular food systems arise and how they can be further supported. Based on the case-study analysis, we arrive at five common success traits and barriers, and five key needs for upscaling. We conclude that motivated, inspiring frontrunners are of key importance in the initial phase of a transition process. However, once a niche initiative is ready to be scaled up, the enabling environment becomes increasingly important.

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Product Qualification as a Means of Identifying Sustainability Pathways for Place-Based Agri-Food Systems: The Case of the GI Corsican Grapefruit (France)

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12177148 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (17) ◽

pp. 7148

Author(s):

Morgane Millet ◽

Valerie Keast ◽

Stefano Gonano ◽

François Casabianca

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Value Chain ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Quality Criteria ◽

Visual Quality ◽

Marketing Channels ◽

Export Markets ◽

Short Run

Existing frameworks offer a holistic way to evaluate a food system based on sustainability indicators but can fall short of offering clear direction. To analyze the sustainability of a geographical indication (GI) system, we adopt a product-centered approach that begins with understanding the product qualification along the value-chain. We use the case of the GI Corsican grapefruit focusing on understanding the quality criteria priorities from the orchard to the store. Our results show that certain compromises written into the Code of Practices threaten the system’s sustainability. Today the GI allows the fruit to be harvested before achieving peak maturity and expectations on visual quality lead to high levels of food waste. Its primary function is to help penetrate mainstream export markets and to optimize labor and infrastructure. Analyzing the stakeholders’ choices of qualification brings to light potential seeds for change in the short run such as later springtime harvests, diversification of the marketing channels, and more leniency on the fruit’s aesthetics. These solutions lead us to reflect on long-term pathways to sustainable development such as reinforcing the fruit’s typicality, reducing food waste, reorganizing human resources, and embedding the fruit into its territory and the local culture.

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“Workarounds and Roadblocks”: Risk and Resistance among Food Movement Activists

Social Currents ◽

10.1177/2329496520965627 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 232949652096562

Author(s):

Andrew Raridon ◽

Tamara L. Mix ◽

Rachel L. Einwohner

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Status Quo ◽

Southern Plains ◽

Alternative Food Systems ◽

Regional Food ◽

The Social ◽

Regional Food Systems ◽

Food Movement

This article examines how activists involved in the food movement use different tactics intended to challenge and subvert the agrifood structures they encounter. We use data from interviews and participant observations with 57 food movement activists operating in less robust alternative food systems throughout the Southern Plains states of Texas, Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Kansas. Our respondents describe how they interpret their regional food systems as deliberately restrictive to the food movement and explain some of the tactical choices they make to maneuver around various constraints they claim hinder their food movement activism. In actively resisting the agricultural status quo, we find that some activists knowingly engage in forms of high-risk activism. We then examine the different framing devices food movement activists use to explain the risks generated by their tactical workarounds. Our findings contribute to the social movements and food system literature by showing how activists interpret and justify the risks generated by their resistance and by emphasizing the contextual nature of tactical choices and risk in social movement activism.

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How New Food Networks Change the Urban Environment: A Case Study in the Contribution of Sustainable, Regional Food Systems to Green and Healthy Cities

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13020481 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 481

Author(s):

Noël van Dooren ◽

Brecht Leseman ◽

Suzanne van der Meulen

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Design Studies ◽

Sustainable Food Systems ◽

Sustainable Food ◽

Regional Food ◽

Regional Food Systems ◽

Green System

More and more people worldwide live in urban areas, and these areas face many problems, of which a sustainable food provision is one. In this paper we aim to show that a transition towards more sustainable, regionally organized food systems strongly contributes to green, livable cities. The article describes a case study in the Dutch region of Arnhem–Nijmegen. Partners of a network on sustainable food in this region were interviewed on how they expect the food system to develop, and in design studies possible futures are explored. Both the interviews and the designs give support to the idea that indeed sustainable food systems can be developed to contribute to green livable cities. They show that the quality and meaning of existing green areas can be raised; new areas can be added to a public green system, and connections with green surroundings are enforced. They also show that inhabitants or consumers can be stimulated to become so called food citizens, highlighting that the relation of food systems and livable cities is a very close one.

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Urbanisation as driver of food system transformation and opportunities for rural livelihoods

Food Security ◽

10.1007/s12571-021-01182-8 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sophie de Bruin ◽

Just Dengerink ◽

Jasper van Vliet

Keyword(s):

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Land Use Changes ◽

Rural Livelihoods ◽

Sub Saharan Africa ◽

System Transformation ◽

Enabling Factors ◽

Rural Livelihood ◽

Wide Range ◽

Sub Saharan

AbstractUrbanisation is changing food systems globally, and in particular in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This transformation can affect rural livelihoods in multiple ways. Evidence on what enabling conditions are needed to materialise the opportunities and limit risks is scattered. Here we review scientific literature to elaborate on how urbanisation affects food systems, and on the enabling conditions that subsequently shape opportunities for rural livelihoods. We find that urbanisation leads to a rising and changing food demand, both direct and indirect land use changes, and often to more complex market linkages. Evidence shows that a wide range of enabling conditions can contribute to the materialisation of opportunities for rural livelihoods in this context. Reviewed evidence suggests that the connectivity to urban centres is pivotal, as it provides access to finance, inputs, information, services, and off-farm employment. As a result, physical and communication infrastructure, the spatial pattern of urbanisation, and social networks connecting farmers to markets are identified as important enabling factors for the improvement of rural livelihood outcomes. Our findings suggest that coordinated and inclusive efforts are needed at different scales to make sure rural livelihoods benefit from urbanisation and food system transformation.

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Participatory mapping of regional food assets using volunteered geographic information systems

10.32920/ryerson.14644827 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Victoria Fast

Keyword(s):

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Local Food ◽

Volunteered Geographic Information ◽

Geographic Information ◽

Participatory Mapping ◽

Regional Food ◽

The Creation ◽

Systems Framework ◽

The Impact

Local food systems are increasingly being studied in response to the threats imposed on global agri-industrial food systems. Central to local food is the community who is imaging and implementing diverse and hyper-local food assets, which are making a significant, but largely unknown, contribution to food security, resiliency, and sustainability. It is important to align these assets with broader regional food policies, programs, and regulations. However, there are few mechanisms to engage stakeholders or share local information. One possible mechanism to learn about local food assets is volunteered geographic information (VGI); a phenomenon that blends crowdsourcing, citizen science, and online mapping. It is currently being studied for its ability to engage and gather information from diverse and under-represented groups. This policy-relevant research investigates how VGI can support greater engagement and knowledge sharing across diverse food stakeholders. To achieve this objective, the VGI system framework is established to study the processes that support the creation of VGI. Next, the new era of food mapping, dubbed Food Mapping 2.0, is investigated to understand the impact evolving mapping techniques have on the engagement of food stakeholders. Lastly, the VGI systems framework, which is embedded in participatory geographic information system and participatory action research methods, is applied to support participatory mapping of regional food assets in Durham Region. His research gathered contributions on over 200 food assets in Durham Region – an upper-tier municipality just east of Toronto consisting of eight lower-tier municipalities – effectively capturing the distributed intelligence of government, not-for-profit, and community stakeholders. The crowdsourced data include locations, descriptions, and media related to farms, markets, community gardens, foodscapes, and other innovative food assets. The community identified urban food assets as a central strength of the regional food system. Overall, this project enabled the creation of an open food assets dataset, further supporting the development of an online Food Assets map and a Crowdsourcing Urban Food Assets report, which are collective used to inform future food policy, regulation, and program development. Overall, this research revealed a uniquely local and community-driven perspective about food system assets within Durham, while serving as a prototype of the VGI systems framework.

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Preserving stories, preserving food:

Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l alimentation ◽

10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i4.455 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (4) ◽

Author(s):

Tammara Soma ◽

Jayda Wilson ◽

Molly Mackay ◽

Yuting Cao

Keyword(s):

Food Waste ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Economic Problem ◽

Food Preservation ◽

Food Culture ◽

Wicked Problem ◽

Food Literacy ◽

Close Relatives ◽

The Relationship

Worldviews, cultures, spirituality, and history not only influence how societies define “food” and “waste”, they also shape how we consume food and the relationship we have with the broader food system. While food waste has emerged as a global concern and a complex “wicked problem” that impacts stakeholders at all scales of operations, the issue is often framed as an environmental and economic problem, and less so as a social problem. As the food waste literature expands at a rapid pace, there is still a dearth of studies that focus on cultural and intergenerational approaches to food preservation and food waste reduction. This exploratory study emerged from an upper-year research-based course entitled Building Sustainable Food Systems (REM 363- now REM 357) at Simon Fraser University and offers three vignettes through intergenerational and multicultural interviews from Siksika First Nation (Canada), Pakistan and China. Students from the class explored the roles of intergenerational storytelling and informal learning by conducting key informant interviews with close relatives to document traditional food preservation techniques. This study created a transformative intergenerational and multicultural bonding opportunity, which allowed students to better understand their relationships to food, culture, and their relatives. The students also documented how the relationship to food has changed over time. Findings from the study suggest that intergenerational storytelling can help reduce food waste by increasing food literacy, improving cultural connections, and raising awareness about alternative worldviews that challenge the commoditization of food.

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