Digging Deeper: Transdisciplinary and Systems Approaches to Food Security

Kate Clancy

doi:10.5304/jafscd.2017.074.012

Abstract

I've been writing for several years now about the importance and usefulness of applying systems concepts to work in food systems. Several of my JAFSCD columns have offered highlights from different reports issued by the National Research Council (NRC, 2010) and from the Institute of Medicine and National Research Council (Institute of Medicine & NRC, 2015) which have strongly called out the need for transformative food and agriculture research (K. Clancy, 2013; 2016). In this column, I want to focus on a report funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) and released in May 2017 by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities (APLU), entitled The Challenge of Change: Harnessing University Discovery, Engagement, and Learning to Achieve Food and Nutrition Security. Although directed to public research universities, most of the analyses and recommendations apply just as well to private universities and other institutions of higher education that are tackling food security and insecurity at all levels....

Highlights

I’ve been writing for several years about the importance and usefulness of applying systems concepts to work in food systems
She received her bachelor’s and Ph.D. degrees in nutrition at the University of Washington and the University of California Berkeley, respectively. She has studied food systems for over 40 years and has held positions in several universities, the federal government and two nonprofit organizations. Her present interests are regional food systems, food security, agriculture of the middle, and policies at all levels to encourage the development of resilient food systems
Like the authors of the earlier documents, the close to 200 people who contributed to the food security report agree that long-term food security is among the top, if not the primary, challenges facing the world—and one of the most complex

Summary

Introduction

I’ve been writing for several years about the importance and usefulness of applying systems concepts to work in food systems. Called out the need for transformative food and agriculture research

Results

Conclusion