Abstract
Many detrimental effects on the environment, economy, and society are associated with the structure and practices of food systems around the world. While there is increasing agreement on the need for substantive change in food systems towards sustainability, divergent perspectives exist on what the appropriate points of intervention and strategies to achieve such change are. Change in diets and nutrition, the importance of social food movements, and sustainable farming practices are all disparately featured in the literature; yet, there is little effort to compare and integrate these perspectives. This review offers a comprehensive overview of perspectives on food systems change towards sustainability. We discern where there is convergence and assess how the literature reflects emergent theory on sustainability transformation. We analyzed more than 200 peer-reviewed articles employing an approach that combines quantitative and qualitative analysis. First, we performed a semantic hierarchical cluster analysis of the full texts to identify thematic clusters representing different perspectives on sustainability transformations and transitions of food systems. Second, we conducted a qualitative text analysis for representative articles of each cluster to examine how deep changes in the food system are conceptualized. We identified five distinct approaches to food systems change that are currently discussed, i.e. Alternative food movements, Sustainable diets, Sustainable agriculture, Healthy and diverse societies, and Food as commons. Each approach provides a nuanced perspective on identified sustainability problems, envisioned sustainable food systems, and proposed actions to change food systems towards sustainability. The findings offer guidance for researchers and practitioners working on food systems change towards sustainability.
Highlights
Contemporary food systems, responsible for feeding the world’s population, face major challenges that require profound structural changes to become sustainable
As we included publications of English language only, the study is strongly shaped by a Western research perspective. This systematic literature review focuses on the emerging research field on deep change towards sustainable food systems and identifies five research perspectives, namely, Alternative food movements, Sustainable diets, Sustainable agriculture, Healthy and diverse societies, and Food as commons
We identify four key crosscutting components for change relevant to all clusters: political action, close collaboration between stakeholders, education, and a deep value shift
Summary
Contemporary food systems, responsible for feeding the world’s population, face major challenges that require profound structural changes to become sustainable. The global food system can be characterized as complex and heterogeneous, integrating social, environmental, economic, and technological processes from production to consumption and waste disposal (Ericksen 2008, Eakin et al 2017a). With global population growth and urbanization, dietary patterns are changing, and the demand for resource-intensive food is growing (Garnett 2014). ‘Deep’ or structural changes are needed to address these challenges and achieve food system sustainability (IASSTD 2009, Foley et al 2011, WBGU 2011, Eakin et al 2017b). While the need for deep changes in social values, resource use, production and consumption practices, as well as socio-economic relations is widely recognized, there is less agreement among scientists and practitioners on how such changes should be achieved According to Eakin et al (2017a p 759), a sustainable food system ‘achieves and maintains food security under uncertain and dynamic social-ecological conditions, through respecting and supporting the contextspecific cultural values and decision-processes that give food social meaning, and the integrity of the social-ecological processes necessary for food provisioning today and for future generations.’ While the need for deep changes in social values, resource use, production and consumption practices, as well as socio-economic relations is widely recognized, there is less agreement among scientists and practitioners on how such changes should be achieved
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
