Sustainable local food systems and environmental sustainability

Abstract

Berry’s statement provokes questions about the connections and relationships between food, our earth, and our environment. Where does food come from? Where and how is it grown? How is it harvested, packaged, delivered to us? What is its value and what is its cost? Is it a sustainable system? What food systems are in place? What is a sustainable food system? What is sustainability? What is environmental sustainability? The role of food systems in environmental sustainability will be discussed in the context of the engaged curriculum of Northland College in Ashland, Wisconsin. This will include a discussion of the components of its thriving local food system. Sustainability is ‘the ability to endure, relating to, or being a method of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged’. The definition of sustainability in the 1987 Brundtland report brings it to a more personal level: ‘Meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs’ (WCED, 1987). This sentiment is reminiscent of the Native American Seventh Generation philosophy that leaders must consider the effects of their actions through to the seventh generation of their people. The principle of the three pillars of sustainability says that for complete sustain ability to be achieved, all three pillars must be sustainable. The three pillars are social sustainability , environmental sustainability, and economic sustainability . Of the three pillars, the most important is environmental sustainability. If this is not addressed, the other two pillars will not survive. Environmental sustain ability is made up of the rates of renewable resource harvest, pollution creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely. In other words: ‘The fate of the living planet is the most important issue facing mankind’ (Gaylord Nelson). Part of the solution can come from sustainable agriculture which forms the core of a sustainable local food system. Grace Communications Foundation defines sustainable agriculture as