scholarly journals Eating Cars: Food Citizenship in a “Community in Crisis”

2013 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 64-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lynne Phillips

Guptill and Wilkins (2002) employ the concept of “food citizenship” to argue that engaging people more fully in decision-making about their own food systems encourages alliances between food producers and eaters and helps to build sustainable food environments. In this article my focus is on the development of community food citizenship, a phrase I use to draw attention to the dynamics of including all residents in the creation of new food systems. Focusing on a community’s diversity – to include, for example, residents who are economically marginalized and those who are economically privileged, as well as residents who are food activists and those who are not – highlights the pedagogical dimensions of initiating and building food citizenship in particular places. To sketch out some of the tensions in and possibilities for community food citizenship, I focus here on the case of Windsor, Ontario, a once thriving automotive centre now facing high unemployment rates and economic hardship. My relationship to this particular case study is as a participant in community efforts to develop an alternative food system and as a researcher/educator who is currently studying this process.

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Rose ◽  
Izo Lourival

AbstractNational and global food systems are beset by intersecting and mutually reinforcing crises of public and ecological health. The locus of these crises resides primarily in the excessive concentration of corporate power and control. Deploying a Gramscian theory of politics as a contribution to the ongoing development of a critical food-based environmental education pedagogy, this article argues that transformative change requires the mass exercise of food citizenship directed towards the realisation of a socially just and ecologically sustainable food system, as contemplated by the principles of food sovereignty. The article argues further that food citizenship in turn presupposes levels of engagement and motivation that will only come from processes of transformative learning and critical consciousness-raising through an emerging form of environmental education: critical food systems literacy.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 481
Author(s):  
Noël van Dooren ◽  
Brecht Leseman ◽  
Suzanne van der Meulen

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 1258-1277
Author(s):  
Jill Quest ◽  
Chris Shiel ◽  
Sarah Watson

Purpose This paper aims to provide a case study of a capacity building project and critical reflection in relation to transitioning to a sustainable food city. Design/methodology/approach A case study research approach was adopted involving two research initiatives: first, a survey to elicit stakeholders’ understanding of sustainable local food, with a view to creating a shared agenda and informing future strategic direction and second a combination of research approaches, including paired discussions, generation of pictorial outputs and a workshop, aimed to inform the future vision and mission of the Partnership. Findings Collaboration with stakeholders through a variety of research initiatives has facilitated the development of a sustainable food city partnership, with the overarching aim of achieving a transition towards a more sustainable food system. Moreover, collaboration has contributed to the transition of the Partnership to ensure sustainability and continuity after the initial funding stage. Research limitations/implications While universities have an important role to play in guiding direction and shaping new community initiatives for sustainability in their regions, the challenges, resources and time involved may be under-estimated; these projects take considerable time to yield fruit. Practical implications The findings of the study will be of interest to those working in the community to promote education for sustainable development and better food systems. Originality/value This paper addresses a gap in the literature in relation to universities and their collaboration with key stakeholders in building capacity and contributing to local sustainability transitions.


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.


Agronomy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1546
Author(s):  
Paolo Guarnaccia ◽  
Silvia Zingale ◽  
Alessandro Scuderi ◽  
Ezio Gori ◽  
Vincenzo Santiglia ◽  
...  

The alignment of food systems with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is generally envisaged to make a positive impact on sustainability. This paper outlines some critical environmental and socio-economic indicators for Sicily in order to compare and explore the outcomes of two juxtaposing key drivers in a scenario planning exercise, where the extremities are Industrial versus Regenerative Agriculture/Agroecology and a Proactive versus Reactive government response. The most rational and less risky scenario becomes the most sensible sustainable development option, around which a 2030 vision is projected for a bioregional sustainable food system for Sicily, which is aligned with the SDGs and related policies. To accomplish the 2030 vision, a holistic education-led developmental approach is outlined with a supporting bioregional strategic framework, whose key milestone deliverables are projected through a backcasting process. This paper therefore highlights the importance of consistency and alignment of a development vision with its strategic framework and ensuing implementation, failing which, the holistic bioregional approach is compromised by activities that are shown to negatively impact environmental and socio-economic indicators. For this reason, all public and private sector development plans and associated resources ought to be aligned with a bioregional strategic plan for a sustainable food system for Sicily.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7667
Author(s):  
Lusine H. Aramyan ◽  
Gonne Beekman ◽  
Joris Galama ◽  
Sandra van der Haar ◽  
Maarten Visscher ◽  
...  

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.


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.


2022 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Springmann ◽  
F. Freund

AbstractAgricultural subsidies are an important factor for influencing food production and therefore part of a food system that is seen as neither healthy nor sustainable. Here we analyse options for reforming agricultural subsidies in line with health and climate-change objectives on one side, and economic objectives on the other. Using an integrated modelling framework including economic, environmental, and health assessments, we find that on a global scale several reform options could lead to reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and improvements in population health without reductions in economic welfare. Those include a repurposing of up to half of agricultural subsidies to support the production of foods with beneficial health and environmental characteristics, including fruits, vegetables, and other horticultural products, and combining such repurposing with a more equal distribution of subsidy payments globally. The findings suggest that reforming agricultural subsidy schemes based on health and climate-change objectives can be economically feasible and contribute to transitions towards healthy and sustainable food systems.


Author(s):  
Sérgio Pedro

The contemporary food system, in its global and local dimensions, is a central element of the debate on the sustainability of the planet, a debate that increasingly involves more stakeholders and areas of knowledge in the search for answers to the multiple questions related to the attainment of more sustainable patterns for food and agriculture. The present chapter analyses the participative multi-stakeholder and multilevel model of food governance of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP), in which stakeholders from different societal and expertise sectors participate in equal manners in the process of co-construction of institutional, technical, and financing measures for the functioning of a given food system. The present chapter has the main goal of sharing and critically analysing the CPLP´s institutional context for the promotion of sustainable food systems as an example of an integrated methodological approach to support the creation of coordinated public policies and institutional conditions to implement a transition to more sustainable food systems and diets.


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