Local Food Systems Research Articles

Collaborating to reduce food waste: building collaborative advantage in local food systems

Abstract Food loss and waste throughout the food supply chain is a growing issue with significant economic, social and environmental implications. Wasted food represents lost profits for the food industry, increased food insecurity in communities and the unnecessary production of greenhouse gas emissions, among many other detrimental consequences. Due to the large number of stakeholders involved in the food supply chain and the complexity of their relationships, there is increasing interest in addressing food waste issues through collaborative governance approaches, such as food policy councils (FPCs). Assessing how FPCs engage diverse stakeholders and organizations in food waste reduction efforts can provide important lessons for improving local food systems governance more broadly and contribute to the creation of more sustainable food systems. To do this, we leverage the theoretical concept of ‘collaborative advantage’ to analyze how FPCs foster collaboration, both internally and with external partners, to achieve policy and programmatic goals that individual stakeholders could not achieve alone. Drawing on plan documents and semi-structured interviews with members of five FPCs across the USA, we find that FPCs can foster collaborative advantage by establishing comprehensive food system plans, systematically measuring progress toward objectives, and transparently communicating the evidence of their progress to the communities they serve.

Autumn Production of Romaine Lettuce on an Extensive Green Roof

Extensive green roofs provide a significant amount of potential available space to expand urban agriculture. Successful crop production in this type of growing system requires growers to overcome temperature extremes, as well as drought conditions and low fertility associated with a shallow and porous rooting substrate. Four cultivars of Romaine lettuce (Lactuca sativa) that included ‘Outredgeous’, 'Parris Island Cos', 'Rouge d'Hiver', and 'Rubens Baby', were grown to maturity in an 8 cm deep expanded lightweight clay substrate on an extensive green roof during the autumn production seasons of 2012 and 2013. Fast and slow release fertilizer regimes popular with growers and a no fertilizer control were provided along with supplemental water via drip irrigation as needed. Chlorophyll content, as measured by a SPAD meter, provided a useful indicator of crop plant vigor and overall plant productivity. Abnormally cold growing conditions during the critical maturation period in autumn 2013 resulted in lower yields compared to 2012. Results indicated that lettuce productivity was improved by the addition of fertilizers, with the fast release providing the greatest growth and productivity. These results demonstrate the feasibility of producing a nutritious and popular autumn crop on an extensive green roof suitable for local urban food systems. However, this research also highlights the vulnerabilities of this system to weather. Utility of green infrastructure for teaching urban agriculture and plant biology is also discussed.

Narrating changes, recalling memory: accumulation by dispossession in food systems of Indigenous communities at the extremes of Latin America

Food feeds knowledge and practices through generations, sustaining biocultural memories. However, prevailing economic models and state policies have driven processes of accumulation by dispossession, defined as incremental social-ecological processes by which people lose their means of production and social reproduction. We conducted a cross-hemispherical study exploring food systems of Indigenous communities inhabiting forested landscapes in Latin America. We used mixed methods that included passive and participant observation, focus groups, free lists, food diaries, oral histories, and calendars in Mapuche communities from the Chilean Andes, and Tzotzil communities from Chiapas, Mexico. Food items and their preparations have changed in both locations. Both food systems show patterns of accumulation by dispossession associated with processes of colonial history, state policies, land privatization, soil depletion, and shifts in local food preferences. Despite these distant but comparable accumulation by dispossession processes, we advocate that biocultural memory remains linked to food-related experiences and sets the basis for dynamic and resilient local food systems going forward.

Fostering local food systems through policy and governance. A case study of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica

Fostering local food systems through policy and governance. A case study of the Osa Peninsula in Costa Rica

Food system transformation: Urban perspectives

Recent years have witnessed an intensification of scientific debates on food system transformation, which, however, continue to unfold mostly at the macro-level, with little empirical backing. To begin to fill the gap between theory and practice surrounding food system transformation, this paper focuses on the governance scale that has been more actively engaging with the complexity of food systems: the urban. Based on a critical review of the academic literature on food system transformation, the paper analyses data collected through interviews with actors involved with the urban food agenda at two levels of governance. These include representatives from high-level organisations operating at the global scale and urban food coordinators from the UK — a country where cities have collectively mobilised to change national food priorities. Findings from the analysis highlight a discrepancy between global and local perceptions of the feasibility of systemic approaches, the lack of an evidence-base to support urban food policies and the inertia of national governments as crucial links between global and local food system governance. As the paper concludes, this raises the need for a re-orientation of research and policy agendas on food system transformation towards the development of a polycentric and plurivocal governance context.

Enhancing conceptual and practical understandings of small-scale farming resilience in the metropolitan countryside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rural-urban complexity can be seen across the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Region where land use, and economic and environmental policies have generated conflicts. In this context, agriculture has become juxtaposed with other functions and interests, which has resulted in a mosaic of diversified land use. These rural-urban interactions also provide opportunities to develop different types of knowledge that allow communities to develop resilience in an environment of spatial changes. The aim of this article is to analyse rural change and farming resilience in the Eastern Rio Metropolis, based on primary research undertaken in 2017 and 2018. The results provide useful insights for understanding the nature of rural-urban interactions in a metropolitan countryside that could, in turn, inform policies for promoting local and regional quality food systems and small-scale farming strategies.

Benefits of local food system survey experience for participants and stakeholders: A case study of Akita, Japan

Local food systems are complex, and there is no single direct way to address their sustainability transition successfully. Therefore, a system transformation approach called 'co-evolution' is needed. Co-evolution requires continuous cooperation and participation of people from different community sectors and spaces for recursive mutual learning. This paper focuses on the secondary effects of citizen surveys on food systems on the actors involved and how citizen surveys experience can cultivate the conditions for co-evolution. The authors supported a 6-month “transition seminar”, a series of learning programs for visioning, fieldwork, analysis of findings, and recommendations for sustainability transitions in local food systems, organized by high school students. This seminar was conducted in 2017 at a high school in Noshiro, Akita Prefecture, Japan, at the request of one of the students. The seminar was held for 8 sessions in total for about 30 high school students who requested it, with the theme of transforming the local food system in the Noshiro area. Participants developed a vision of a desirable local food system under the theme of “the community's ideal food system 30 years from now,” conducted fieldwork surveys, planned to realize the vision, and made policy proposals to the mayor of Noshiro. After the seminar, the result of the group interview shows that the fieldwork survey experience, in particular, had a long-term impact on participants' understanding of and ability to reflect on the food system and policies in the Noshiro area. In addition, interviews conducted in 2019 confirmed various secondary effects, including increased interest and networking among participating high school students, teachers, and stakeholders. This result suggests that citizen surveys for sustainable food systems have spillover various positive effects on stakeholders, including providers (researchers). Moreover, citizen surveys experience support collaboration and participation between different community sectors and space for recursive mutual learning and cultivate conditions for co-evolution.

Abstracts Teaching Kitchen Research Conference Los Angeles, California October 18–19, 2022

Abstracts Teaching Kitchen Research Conference Los Angeles, California <i>October 18–19, 2022</i>

Model of Community, Local, and Regional Food Systems Extension Programming

Community, local, and regional food systems (CLRFS) programming reflects important issues and priorities that intersect with Extension and the sustainability of our food system. CLRFS programming in Extension, however, is still developing slowly while food movements grow nationally. This article describes a CLRFS model and complementary process for conducting listening sessions with Extension professionals and community leaders to develop and enhance CLRFS programming to address critical food system needs. A recommendation for Cooperative Extension is that such a tool may aid CLRFS program potential as an integrated “food, farm, and health” approach for community-level application.

SEeD for Change: The Systemic Event Design Project Applied to Terra Madre Salone del Gusto for the Development of Food Communities

In the contemporary era, food plays a key role in balancing environmental, social, and economic balances, not only due to its primary identity as a resource that nourishes living beings and the planet but also through the processes triggered by stakeholders who act at the internal local food systems. In the latter, an orientation towards sustainability is increasingly urgently required, capable of achieving a widespread creation of shared value. In this scenario, the International Slow Food Association operates, which also, through the Terra Madre Salone del Gusto initiative, coordinates communities and events located throughout the world on the theme of “good, clean and fair” food. This article aims to analyze, through the lens of the systemic approach, the interesting and multifaceted impacts of this event, as an opportunity to disseminate and contagion of ideas, attitudes, and behaviors around the themes of sustainability and biodiversity, but also as a moment of consolidation and creation of relationships between and within local food systems and local communities. The research project presented, entitled “SEeD for Change”, was coordinated by the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo with the University of Turin and helped to focus on the actors, relationships and contexts that actually and virtually hosted the event: places in which through a common and shared language, change has been generated.

Safeguarding the land to secure food in the highlands of Peru: The case of Andean peasant producers

Local or traditional agri-food systems in the Andes depend on community land use planning to maintain the genetic pool of crops and landraces in the face of disease, disasters, and climate change. These systems are managed integrally and on the basis of traditional knowledge around soil conservation, water management and maintaining biodiversity. At the same time, agri-food system research, policy and programming exhibit a limited understanding of local or traditional systems planning and community and cultural contexts. In policy and programming, the treatment of communities as homogenous groups overlooks heterogeneity in local identities, which is reflected for example in different access and use of traditional knowledge among men and women and forms of community organization and customs. The purpose of this article is to respond to this gap by shedding light on the intersecting identities of Andean farmers–peasant women and men–that contribute to the sustainability and resilience of local agri-food systems. Our focus is on intersecting identities and planning processes in particular. We detail the nature and cultural components that make up local agri-food systems in the Andean region and identify policy gaps around identities. To do this, we draw on intersectional feminist thinking, socio-ecological systems and resilience thinking to apply an intersectional lens to the study of planning processes in several Andean communities. Findings identify contributions around soil conservation, biodiversity upkeep, water management, and communal or cultural practices that are shaped by peasant's intersecting identities and their interactions within social-ecological systems. Findings illustrate the importance of multiple social locations, relations, and structures of power, including but not limited to gender, but other categories such as age and ethnicity for the delivery of equitable resilience. We formulate some initial recommendations so that national approaches and interventions better reflect the diversity of Andean people's identities and the way these affect relationships with socio-ecological systems in national and public planning. In particular, we suggest there may be value in exploring further the potential of rights-based approaches for enhancing equitable resilience in Andean agri-food systems. This article should be of interest to academics and practitioners in planning working around local or traditional food systems.

Enhancing capacity of scientists and practitioners for promoting more sustainable and resilient food systems in Indonesia and the South Pacific

Three Resilient Food Systems training workshops were delivered in Bogor, Indonesia, Suva, Fiji, and Port Vila, Vanuatu. The workshops provided young and early-career professionals with the latest international thinking on food systems and resilience. The workshop teaching material was based on the IFSTAL (Interdisciplinary Food System Teaching and Learning; www.ifstal.ac.uk) programme initially developed in the United Kingdom. The intensive six-day workshop programme integrates learning across three connected themes: food systems and resilience concepts, soft system methodology, and personal skills and development. Each workshop is locally contextualised with field trips, local inspirational guest speakers, and local real-world food system case studies. Throughout the duration of the workshop, participants apply new concepts and methodologies to their case studies, thereby enhancing their understanding and learning. Participant evaluation of the workshops was overwhelmingly positive, and pleasingly, participants reported positive learning outcomes across all three learning themes. These workshops represent just the initial step in a necessarily long and sustained effort to establish a community of food system professionals across Indonesia and Pacific Island states.

Local Food Systems and Farmers’ Markets-an Exploratory Study

The local food systems and farmers' markets support the local economy, build relationships between producers and consumers, and promote social interaction along with the provision of fresh and nutritious foods. The local food systems cater to the three dimensions of sustainability viz. environment, economy, and society by providing access to fresh produce. Various models of local food systems are in operation, direct-to-consumer, direct-to-retail, farmers markets, and farm-to-school programs each with distinct features of operation. Consumers prefer local food markets as they perceive the locally grown food to be fresher and they like unique and special foods on offer at these markets. Policy support and capacity building of smallholder farmers on reducing the cost of cultivation, marketing skills, and knowledge of food safety regulations are essential. Farmers' markets are integral to local food systems and various models of farmers' markets are operational in different countries of the world. The mode of functioning and operational principles of a farmers market (Rythu Bazar) in the Telangana State of India has been described in this article. The participating smallholder farmers benefitted from higher price realization, an increase in earnings, and immediate cash receivables. However, the major constraint was inadequate storage facilities for leftover produce. The disruptions to food supply chains faced during the covid-19 pandemic have indicated that the farmer's markets were preferred by both poor and elite customers alike and thus the local food systems can provide resilience to the food systems. The SWOT analysis of the farmers' markets indicates a robust system with explicit strengths, and operational weaknesses, the opportunities are also many and with the suitable policy and affirmative action the threats can be addressed.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Food Security: Ghana in Review

Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana has recorded a total of 130, 727 confirmed cases with 1,207 deaths at the time of writing this article. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant influence on nations and regions all around the world since it started and Ghana is no exception. This systematic review discusses COVID-19 measures in Ghana, the impact of COVID-19 on the import and export of Agricultural inputs and food, as well as the impact of COVID-19 on local food system actors. In the second part, measures to prevent food insecurity in Ghana during the outbreak of the pandemic, emerging lessons, and building resilience have also been presented. In several production regions, the Ghanaian food system experienced disturbances that resulted in reduced output due to limited labor mobility; nevertheless, these disruptions were minor and did not appear to have a significant impact on production. The COVID-19 epidemic has disrupted food supplies, putting billions of people's food security in jeopardy. According to some estimates, global hunger might treble as a result of food supply disruptions, especially in poor countries around the world. Ghana's economy is beginning to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and in order to maintain this recovery, the government will need to continue to support both the productive and vulnerable sectors of the economy. Finally, there has never been a better time to eat more of what we grow and to grow more of what we eat than right now.

How to create intermediated local food system partnerships? Collective performance, collective negotiation, and collective learning

This article describes the construction of innova­tive beef supply chains observed in the Loire and Isère departments in France. The aim for their promoters was to build intermediated local food networks without leaving the organizing power in the intermediaries’ hands. The authors take the analytical framework of the sociology of “market agencements,” which focuses on market shaping processes, to show how the ranchers, slaughter­houses, wholesalers, and retailers went about defin­ing quality, prices, and the logistics and administra­tive organization of their supply chains. They also underscore three characteristics of intermediated supply chain partnerships, namely, the search for collective performance, collective negotiation of the rules of the game, and collective learning.

Economies of community in local agriculture: Farmers in New London, Connecticut, respond to the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the weak­nesses of the U.S. national food system, with grocery store shelves emptied in March and April 2020 and COVID outbreaks reported throughout the summer of 2020 at meat processing plants across the country. Fleetingly, Americans turned to local farms to ensure they could access food safely in a time of uncertainty. This paper examines the economies of community that formed around local farms and how direct engagements between con­sumers and producers in the face of the pandemic deepened these economic structures that often put community well-being above profits. Within a capitalist system that prioritizes efficient mass production, economies of community illustrate that solidarity can improve local food system resilience. Based on qualitative and quantitative research carried out in the summer of 2020 in New London County in southeastern Connecticut, this research draws on ethnographic interviews with small-scale farmers who developed innovative ways to feed some of their community’s most vulnerable members. Community economies show that we should not only depend on standardized large-scale farms and giant retail distribution; the American food system needs to continue to cultivate small-scale local production in order to improve re­silience and food access. At present, the sus­tainability of producing and distributing food occurs at the farmer’s expense. The government needs to support local food producers so they can continue to play an integral part in community well-being.

Diets of infants and young children in two counties of Kenya: Key drivers and barriers to improvement.

Infant and young child feeding (IYCF) practices are influenced by many context-specific factors related to local food systems as well as social and cultural practices. Understanding these local contextual perspectives is essential for designing effective programs and policies. This paper uses focused ethnographic study methods to examine challenges experienced by mothers related to IYCF in two counties in Kenya, a country with considerable heterogeneity in agriculture, food systems, and cultures. A two-phase qualitative study was undertaken in each of Kilifi County and West Pokot County, entailing interviews and rating activities with mothers, health workers, and vendors. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated into English, coded, and analysed by topic. Results show low levels of dietary diversity in both counties; in West Pokot, the level of adequate meal frequency is also low. Core foods in young child diets included maize porridge and family foods such as ugali (stiff maize porridge), vegetables, beans, fish, and plantains. Food safety, acceptability, and acquisition ease were the main drivers of food choice. Mothers generally felt that all core foods fed to young children are healthy and safe, but there was more variability regarding child acceptance, acquisition ease, cost, and convenience. Common barriers to feeding nutrient-dense foods to children included child illness, economic constraints, and limited knowledge of modification strategies, skills, or tools to make the foods suitable for young children. Potential actions to address these barriers include sharing information on child-appropriate recipes; raising awareness on local, affordable nutrient-dense foods; and improving WASH practices to reduce illness frequency.

Systemizing a rural livelihood diversification framework for sustainable community-based agritourism: A participatory approach to ensure resilience

IntroductionSituated approaches of rural livelihood diversification, such as community-based agritourism, can localize sustainable food systems at the regional level. This research advances an integrated framework of indicators to assess the interdisciplinary benefits of rural livelihood diversification practices for sustainable local food systems and community resilience.MethodsWe built a framework on four dimensions deducted from secondary data: (1) environmental, (2) sociocultural, (3) economic, and (4) health. These were validated with an inductive analysis of primary data, which we collected from a panel of experts with a content validity index and tested in three rural case studies with shadow observation and qualitative interviews. We conducted both in-depth interviews with community leaders (n = 10) and semi-structured interviews with multi-sectoral stakeholders (n = 40).ResultsFindings (1) identify a comprehensive list of indicators to assess environmental, sociocultural, economic, and health dimensions of rural livelihood diversification practices and (2) advance a participatory approach to prioritize indicators according to their regional relevance (co-developed with stakeholders involved in Bangkok's local food systems). Food tourism connects the four dimensions by (1) preserving local agrobiodiversity (2) preserving rural communities' traditions (3) creating new capacity building opportunities for community-driven socio-economic development and (4) recognizing the health benefits of indigenous foods.DiscussionThis study contributes to a value-added conceptualization of community-based agritourism as a rural livelihood diversification practice. Such research effort highlights the importance of co-producing and ground-truthing indicators for rural livelihood diversification practices localizing sustainable development goals.

Less red meat to be greener? An exploratory study of the representations of sustainable cuisine among French chefs

The main objective of this research is to examine the representations that French chefs have of sustainable cuisine, and to determine whether this includes considerations for a reduction in meat consumption. Global sustainability questions have led to specific issues for the restaurant sector. Among these issues, the recommendation of a reduction in meat consumption is a polarizing topic in France, as meat is deeply rooted in the French culinary tradition. The study of chefs' representations offers a better understanding of the meaning of their actions, what is at stake for them, their obstacles and limitations in the implementation of more sustainable practices in their kitchens. A qualitative methodology based on 29 semi-directive interviews was chosen to explore the chefs' representations. A sub-sample of 15 French chefs was selected to carry out an initial preliminary thematic analysis and to provide some initial insights. The first results of this study show the plurality of perceptions behind the concept of sustainable cuisine. The chefs who have a concrete vision of the concept mainly mention actions related to food supply and culinary preparation. The subject of reducing meat consumption is not prominent in the chefs' representations of sustainable cuisine; however, the chefs do mention various actions to use animal products in a more sustainable way: sourcing from local food systems, favoring farms that respect animal welfare, respecting the seasonality of products or adopting a zero waste strategy in the preparation of meat-based dishes. These results have implications for the restaurant sector, as they provide initial insights into the relationship between chefs and sustainable cuisine, and pave the way for a more in-depth study of chefs' representations.

A rapid-mapping methodology for local food environments, and associated health actions: the case of Penrith, Australia

ABSTRACT The importance to human health of local environments around the growing, distribution, marketing and consumption of food is well established. However, urban planners and others often struggle to ensure local areas are managed to support healthy eating, including equitable access to fresh foods. Effective outcomes depend on cross-sectoral engagements, and user-friendly tools to assist. This paper describes an initial “rapid appraisal” methodology that delivers quick and resource-efficient advice about the local food environment, including any potential concerns and needs for more focussed investigations. The graphic and experiential approach can also encourage much-needed collaborative engagements. We illustrate our approach in reference to a locality in Sydney, Australia experiencing various health issues. The results suggest an earlier innovative policy around local food systems has become neglected, and point to specific matters for targeted investigation and action. Other readily available tools to assist this work are included as part of our conclusion.