Food System Actors Research Articles

In- and exclusion in urban food governance: exploring networks and power in the city of Almere

ABSTRACT Cities are becoming involved in food governance, with a shift to multi-actor urban food governance taking place. Yet, not all food system actors are equally represented in these governance processes. Facing challenges on participation and social justice, questions arise on how inclusive urban food governance is in practice. This article aims to provide a contribution to this debate by looking at the city of Almere, the Netherlands, in the development of its first urban food strategy (UFS). By assessing the governance network involved in the creation of the UFS this article studies mechanisms of in- and exclusion within this process. Conceptually, the article builds on Manuel Castells’ network theory of power. Methodologically, the article presents a network analysis integrated with qualitative methods. The article finds that the municipality is at the network's centre, trying to balance inclusive versus efficient governance. This highlights the tensions around inclusion in network governance, as a network is only responsible for those included in the network, whereas governments are ultimately responsible for all of their citizens, even if they are not directly included in the governance network. This calls for further reflection on the roles of citizens in urban food governance in a network society.

Resilience and transformation: Lessons from the UK local food sector in the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractHow to ensure resilience of food systems is a key concern in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Notably, there is a renewed interest in the role of local food systems from policy, academic, and third‐sector actors, who see those systems as a source of “bounce‐back” resilience, supporting existing structures, but also as sources of “bounce‐forward” transformative resilience. Both perspectives move debates around local food systems beyond the dominant focus on social exclusion (defensive localism). The capacity of the local food sector to provide either form of resilience depends on the resilience of the local food actors themselves, which has been little investigated to date. This paper addresses this important gap in scholarship through an investigation of the “bounce‐back” and the “bounce‐forward” resilience of local food actors in the UK during the first wave of the COVID‐19 pandemic. We advance resilience scholarship by developing an analytical framework which combines attention to resilience characteristics (“what is there”) and to the systemic forces that enable and constrain their development (“how things work”). Attention to social capital, we argue, is crucial to understanding transformative resilience. We present rich qualitative data to illustrate the multi‐faceted impacts of the COVID‐19 pandemic on local food system actors in the UK. This is complemented with a review of relevant policy and third‐sector publications which contextualise local food system efforts. We conclude that while strong bonding and bridging capitals support the local food sector's persistence and adaptability, a lack of linking social capital, most visible as a “middle‐class image problem,” is preventing it from achieving a transformative role. We argue that the local food sector needs to form alliances which would move it beyond a single‐issue topic, and articulate local food as part of place‐centred community resilience strategies that foster social capacities.

Sekayam Subdistrict’s Food System Activities and Local Food Security

This study analyzes Sekayam subdistrict’s local food system and local food security. Based on an analysis of local food vendor interviews, this research sheds light on the local food system based on five food groups modified from seven food groups of household dietary diversity scale measurement, according to the local condition. The stages of data analysis in this study adhered to the data analysis process modified from Neuman. The result indicates that the Sekayam subdistrict is self-sufficient in rice, vegetables, and freshwater fish but depends on other places for meat, seafood, and other foodstuffs such as cooking oil, milk, eggs, and sugar. Taken together, the research findings highlight the importance of developing some potential food sources to fulfill a community need so that Sekayam subdistrict in the future no longer depends much on other places supplied, to pursue better local self-sufficiency and better local food security. This paper strongly recommends policymakers, stakeholders, and local farmers, as well as the community, to plan and take some actions to pursue local self-sufficiency and better local food security in the future. The activity includes food production, processing and packaging, distribution and retailing, and consumption.

Sekayam Subdistrict’s Food System Activities and Local Food Security

This study analyzes Sekayam subdistrict’s local food system and local food security. Based on an analysis of local food vendor interviews, this research sheds light on the local food system based on five food groups modified from seven food groups of household dietary diversity scale measurement, according to the local condition. The stages of data analysis in this study adhered to the data analysis process modified from Neuman. The result indicates that the Sekayam subdistrict is self-sufficient in rice, vegetables, and freshwater fish but depends on other places for meat, seafood, and other foodstuffs such as cooking oil, milk, eggs, and sugar. Taken together, the research findings highlight the importance of developing some potential food sources to fulfill a community need so that Sekayam subdistrict in the future no longer depends much on other places supplied, to pursue better local self-sufficiency and better local food security. This paper strongly recommends policymakers, stakeholders, and local farmers, as well as the community, to plan and take some actions to pursue local self-sufficiency and better local food security in the future. The activity includes food production, processing and packaging, distribution and retailing, and consumption.

Food system transformation for sustainable city-regions: exploring the potential of circular economies

ABSTRACT Calls for food system transformation to strengthen synergies between socio-economic and environmental goals have been growing in recent years. As yet, however, insights from theoretical debates have not been tested against the actions and perceptions of food system actors. To add empirical weight to this debate, we focus on a region in the north of England where the Covid-19 crisis has challenged the embeddedness of linear thinking and siloed policy approaches. Based on an exploration of the potential of ‘circular food economies’, the analysis provides insights into the capacity of ‘city-regions’ to reorientate food system dynamics towards sustainability objectives.

STRENGTHENING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE LOCAL FOOD SYSTEM BY CHOOSING ECO-LOCALIZATION SCENARIO

EU institutions and the public are increasingly debating giving priority to regional and local food systems, short supply chains which create opportunities for a healthier lifestyle and the strengthening of the local economy. The aim of this research is to highlight the possibilities of strengthening the sustainability of the local food system by choosing the eco-localization scenario. The research methods: analysis of scientific literature, documents, good practice examples, systematization, parallel method, etc. The eco-localization scenario requires a long-term vision and a "sustainable solutions" approach, the geographical area relies on its producers and consumers, is oriented towards the local consumer, but the openness of the economy is not abandoned. The driving forces that can help to strengthen the sustainability of local food system by choosing the eco-localization scenario were identified: network of local food system objects; short food supply chains strategies: business to consumer (B2C), business to business (B2B) business to government (B2G); cooperation and stakeholders of local food system activities; local food system stakeholders and relationships; conditions for strategic breakthrough in local food system development.

Survival strategies of producers involved in short food supply chains following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic: A Hungarian case-study.

Survival strategies of producers involved in short food supply chains following the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic: A Hungarian case-study.

COVID Connections: Lessons from Adaptations to COVID‐19 as Strategies for Building Food System Resilience

AbstractTo identify elements of crisis response that might hold lessons for resilience beyond the current moment, we studied a central North Carolina food system during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Based on ethnographic interviews with farmers, employees and volunteers of food access organizations, and local government employees, our work found that connection, networking, innovation, and technology adoption were sources of strength and growth. Lessons: food system actors found that their social connections helped them to exchange information and resources, meet increased food needs among SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) participants and Latina/os immigrants, and combine efforts to adopt technologies and learn from new labor pools. Challenges: while navigating COVID‐19, food system actors faced challenges spanning labor, safety, information, government policies, supply shortages, weather, and unreliable information. In addition to lessons and challenges, we offer a series of future research directions that we identified in our study findings. Our study shows that small‐scale production and local food organization and government responses are important and dynamic parts of a resilient food system. Regional systems’ actors were able to pivot more quickly than large‐scale systems and presented a more flexible, locally suitable model that will likely prove adaptive beyond the pandemic.

The Dilemmas of Water Quality and Food Security Interactions in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Water is a factor input for many food system activities such as agriculture, food processing and consumption. However, food system activities also affect water resources. Moreover, the shift in focus of food security in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) from producing enough staple foods toward healthy diets stimulates local production of fresh food such as fruit, vegetables and fish even in water scarce regions. To secure local production, polluted water is used for food production, processing and consumption, which might jeopardize human health. However, scientific evidence is still scattered and fragmented. The aim of this study is to systematically investigate the empirical tested impacts of water quality on the food system activities and vice versa. Using a comprehensive framework, we sketch the inter-relationships between water quality and food systems based on a literature study. Food system activities included food production (crop production, livestock and aquaculture), food processing, and food consumption. Multiple contaminants were incorporated such as nitrogen, phosphorus, pesticides, pathogens, cyanotoxins, and heavy metals. Moreover, we considered different water sources such as groundwater, surface water, wastewater and coastal water. We found that food system activities contaminate water in several ways, and these differ between food system activity and type of food produced. The impact of water quality on the food system depends on the food produced, the type of contaminant and techniques of food preparation. In addition, food is contaminated in multiple ways along the food system. Irrigation with polluted water may sound familiar, but polluted water is sometimes also used in food processing (cleaning of equipment or food products), and in food preparation (at home or by street vendors). Hygiene in food consumption is crucial to prevent fecal-oral transmission. However, water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) received little attention in relation to food consumption. If local production of fresh food is encouraged to improve food security, all aspects of water quality should be analyzed to avoid undesirable consequences.

The Effects of COVID-19 on Beef Consumer Preferences and Beliefs in Colombia: A Logit Model Approach

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought impacts on the food system in several ways, such as on the supply and demand of food or changes in consumer preferences. However, little is known yet about these effects but needs to be analyzed to define actions and policies for crisis mitigation and achieving food system resilience and food security. In this article, we estimate the effect of the COVID-19 lockdown on changes in food consumer preferences in Colombia, applying a logit model approach for seven attributes, namely animal welfare, environmental sustainability, information on the origin and manufacturing of food, food appearance, food price, fair payment to the producer, and food packaging. In addition, we provide an analysis of changes in beef consumption during the lockdown, since the beef industry is among Colombia's most important agricultural activities and is heavily affected by substitution effects. Our results show that consumer beliefs regarding these attributes remained mostly stable, but that income is a determining factor for the decision to consume certain types of food, such as beef, rather than for possible changes in beliefs. This means that income ends up being decisive for the consumption of food such as beef and that, for its part, it does not have a greater weight in the change of beliefs of the people surveyed. The results will help the food system actors in defining interventions for achieving food security and resilience.

One size doesn\u2019t fit all: regional differences in priorities for food system transformation

The growing attention for food systems in policy debates has highlighted the systemic linkages between desired food system outcomes. There is an increased recognition that systemic changes are required to improve access to healthy, sustainable diets. While there is abundant academic analysis on the global need for food system transformation, regional differences in food system transformation priorities have received limited scholarly attention. This article aims to address this gap by analysing the results of a regional consultation study about respondents’ perceptions of the needs and modalities for food systems transformation. Data collection consisted of an online survey among 621 agri-food professionals and in-depth interviews among 33 food system experts from different regions across the world. The study shows how different stakeholders across the world prioritise food system drivers, food system challenges and food system transformation strategies. Region, organisational background, countries’ level of food system transformation, political and socio-economic structure are critical factors in determining such priorities. The study highlights relevant food system differences and priorities between food system actors. These differences have important policy implications for the agendas of stakeholders in their regional priorities in food systems transformation. While there is much agreement across regions on the key drivers of different food system challenges, which food system challenge is considered most urgent and which food system transformation strategy deserves most priority, differs greatly between regions. This article shows the importance of including regional and local perspectives in policy debates on the directions food system transformations should take and the need to identify such differences methodically.

Reverse thinking: taking a healthy diet perspective towards food systems transformations

Food systems that deliver healthy diets without exceeding the planet’s resources are essential to achieve the worlds’ ambitious development goals. Healthy diets need to be safe, accessible, and affordable for all, including for disadvantaged and nutritionally vulnerable groups such as of smallholder producers, traders, and consumers in low- and middle-income countries. Globally, food systems are experiencing rapid and drastic changes and are failing to fulfil these multiple duties simultaneously. The international community therefore calls for rigorous food systems transformations and policy solutions to support the achievement of healthy diets for all. Most strategies, however, are essentially supply- and market-oriented. Incorporation of a healthy diet perspective in food system transformation is essential to enable food systems to deliver not only on supplying nutritious foods but also on ensuring that consumers have access can afford and desire healthy, sustainable, and culturally acceptable diets. This paper argues that this should be guided by information on diets, dietary trends, consumer motives, and food environment characteristics. Transformational approaches and policies should also take into account the stage of food system development requiring different strategies to ensure healthier diets for consumers. We review current knowledge on drivers of consumer choices at the individual and food environment level with special emphasis on low- and middle income countries, discuss the converging and conflicting objectives that exist among multiple food-system actors, and argue that failure to strengthen synergies and resolve trade-offs may lead to missed opportunities and benefits, or negative unintended consequences in food system outcomes. The paper proposes a menu of promising consumer- and food-environment- oriented policy options to include in the food systems transformation agenda in order to shift LMIC consumer demand towards healthier diets in low- and middle income countries.

Photo-elicitation and the voiceless: Narrating the “lived experiences” perspective of informal street food vendors in Khayelitsha, Cape Town

This research delves into the symbolic spaces and everyday practices of street food vendors in Khayelitsha, Cape Town - specifically, how traders interact and negotiate their agency within food systems of the poor and marginalised. A key objective for this study is to gain insight into street food vendors’ understanding of the right to food and what it means for them as food system actors. Taking on a gendered lens, findings speak to informal traders existing in a complex space - caught somewhere between exclusionary urban politics, and waiting for the state to address the many governance and political bottlenecks that define the complex environment in which they operate. By focusing on symbolic experiences and actions of vendors in Khayelitsha, the study unveils the often invisible, ordinary, everyday realities of the vendors, through which ‘social capital’ is produced. The irrelevance of an actual constitutionally codified right to food for informality is also revealed through the qualitative essence of informal food traders’ experiences of navigating a livelihood in the fluid and unstable context of the informal economy.

The Importance of Citizen Scientists in the Move Towards Sustainable Diets and a Sustainable Food System

To enhance sustainability, the food system requires significant shifts in the production, processing and supply of food. Ideally, a sustainable food system should operate, not only to protect the biosphere, but also to provide nutritious, high-quality food, and to support social values, an equitable economy, and human and animal health. It should also be governed responsibly within a supportive policy environment. Implementing these shifts is a task of immense scale; but citizen participation/engagement has the potential to help make sustainability a reality through distributed learning, dynamic sensing, and knowledge generation. Technological advancements in sensing and data processing have enabled new forms of citizen participation in research. When food system research is embedded within society it can help us to understand which changes towards sustainability work and which do not. Indeed, citizen engagement in food systems research has the potential to help bring citizens on side, supporting the growth of a food culture of resilience and of sustainable practises (including dietary change). This commentary provides examples of how existing research and alternative food production systems and agroecological practises may provide possible frameworks for citizen participation in food system studies. We highlight potential future food and citizen science approaches. Widening citizen participation and encouraging the involvement of other food system actors, including those in local, national and international governance, is essential to capture the full potential of citizen science in enabling transition to a sustainable food system. For the research community citizen science offers engagement and empowerment of wider communities with science; collecting and analysing data; and creating viable solutions to food system and diet issues.

The impact of Covid-19 on black farmers in South Africa

ABSTRACT Covid-19 is impacting on food systems and food security around the world, including in South Africa, revealed most starkly in rising food prices and increasing food insecurity. Debates on what kind of food system we need to respond to this crisis remain unresolved and lacking in a good understanding of the impacts of Covid-19 on farmers who are key actors in food systems. This article contributes to these debates by revealing the experiences of black fresh produce farmers in South Africa since Covid-19 arrived in the country and the government responded with a range of emergency regulations. This is based on in-depth research with 40 market-orientated black small- and medium-scale farmers. Giving particular attention to black farmers is essential in South Africa given the high levels of continued wealth and racial inequalities. The study has found that, despite overall growth in the agricultural sector, these farmers are facing many challenges and receive inadequate support. The outcomes of Covid-19 related impacts include reductions in production and incomes as well as job losses. If not addressed there could be long-term negative consequences that undermine the food system and reinforce existing inequalities. A holistic food system approach, better informed by an understanding of black farmers and the networks they are part of, will be valuable to finding solutions.

Assessing the Circularity of Nutrient Flows Across Nested Scales for Four Food System Scenarios in the Okanagan Bioregion, BC Canada

In light of continued nutrient pollution in water bodies and anticipated insecurities related to future nutrient supplies, there is an increasing awareness of the need to use nutrients in a more circular way. As part of a food system design study in the Okanagan bioregion, BC Canada we set out to evaluate different food system scenarios for the year 2050 in terms of nutrient circularity. In doing so, the objective was to evaluate the circularity of nutrient flows not only in the Okanagan, but also in relation to exogenous regions, insofar as nutrient flows relate to feed and food consumption and production in the Okanagan. This is important because feed and food trade means that nutrient inputs to crop production in the Okanagan may make their way into organic residuals outside the Okanagan, and vice versa. If not accounted for, this may lead to a distorted picture when analyzing nutrient circularity. To this effect, we applied an analytical framework and calculation model that explicitly tracks nutrients from crop production to organic residual generation. The results of the study suggest that assessing nutrient circularity across nested scales was critical for two reasons. First, changes in overall nutrient flows in response to population increase and dietary change were found to be more pronounced outside the Okanagan. Second, our analysis clearly revealed the extent to which feed and food trade boost nutrient self-reliance in the Okanagan at the expense of nutrient self-reliance outside the Okanagan. This kind of analysis should therefore be useful to explore, ideally together with food system and organic residual management actors, how different food system and organic residual management scenarios perform in terms of nutrient circularity, in the geographical area being considered, but also how it impacts nutrient flows and circularity in the places with which feed and food are traded.

IFST vision for a UK‐wide national food strategy

<scp>IFST</scp> vision for a <scp>UK</scp>‐wide national food strategy

Meaning as Motivator to Address Distancing in the Food System

Distancing in the food system prevents people from having full knowledge and making informed choices about what and how they produce, exchange, prepare, and eat food. This becomes problematic when the dominant industrial food system contributes to myriad negative human health, ecological, and social outcomes. This paper reports on findings from a study that aimed to better understand distancing from the perspectives of people engaged in resisting it, focusing on their motivations for action to inform policy approaches to improve food system health. The research, conducted in India and Canada, comprised participant observation with organizations working to connect the production and consumption of food, as well as interviews with activists, consumers, and farmers involved with those organizations. These food system actors were motivated primarily by a conviction that food is important, which was illustrated by meaningful relationships built and maintained through food, by soulful connections with food, and by a sense that everything – including food – is interconnected. The findings identify connection around food as a source of meaning in life. From meaning comes awareness of broader issues, a sense of value and care, and ultimately motivation for action or change. This could have implications for healthy food system governance if frameworks such as determinants of health and healthy food environments are used to inform healthy public policies that cultivate a sense of meaning and awareness of the intrinsic value embedded in food.

Response-to-Failure Analysis of Global Food System Initiatives: A Resilience Perspective

International food system initiatives have led the efforts to combat the threats to global food security resulting from the failure of the current food systems. This study set out to investigate and assess the contributions of global food system initiatives in tackling the food system challenges. In assessing the food system initiatives, we develop a three-step methodology for Food System Initiative (FSI) selection and then conduct a qualitative evaluation using relevant indicators based on food system failure narratives. Furthermore, the authors synthesize present literature in the context of the extent to which coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has compounded food system challenges and, together with the response-to-failure analysis, recreate a resilient transformational framework, which will be an invaluable tool to FSI during and after the COVID-19 era, and guarantee we build back better. The findings show that while considerable effort is being made in addressing food system failures, the current COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges and would require a paradigm shift not only in the implementation of conventional food system initiatives but also in the role of food system actors. The food system resilience framework presented provides useful pathway in expanding the understanding of the role of all key stakeholders and in identifying tipping points for building the desired resilience moving forward.

How does market power affect the resilience of food supply?

Food system shocks are mediated through value chains and underlying market structures, characterised by elements of power. Power imbalances are assumed to be detrimental to food security and to economic welfare, but the links between market power and food system resilience have not been extensively explored. This paper considers how shocks are potentially mitigated or amplified by the increasing consolidation of market power in globally interconnected food supply chains. We use UK examples to highlight evolving power-resilience dynamics and challenges from the perspectives of supply chain actors and regulators. We find that the impact of market power on the resilience of food supply is mixed. Low functional diversity levels, inflexible contracts and homogenous processes may increase supply chain vulnerability. A degree of power in terms of financial capacity, robust logistics and cooperation can enable firms to better mitigate shock impacts. Episodic crises appear to highlight the value of cooperation and of supply chain redundancy or slack, rather than the efficiency of perfect competition. This suggests a more nuanced perspective on market power than the largely detrimental perception implied by dominant economic theory. The discussion of the role of power in the food system should also consider social and environmental accountabilities of dominant food system actors, and whether these are sufficiently considered by existing regulatory structures.