Category Archives: Uncategorized

Healthy people depend on healthy food systems

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In an article published by thejournal.ie, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Olivier de Schutter, points out that food and nutrition security must be developed in a sustainable way, and that the status quo as exemplified by conventional forms of agriculture, is no longer viable.

He argues instead that sustainable food systems are those that are efficient in reducing waste and losses; they invest in smallholders and in agroecological practices, in support of diverse farming systems that improve the adequacy of diets; and they take into account the specific constraints of women, which they seek to overcome.

Just Food: Where Locavores Get It Wrong and How We Can Truly Eat Responsibly

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(from amazon.com site:)

In summary, McWilliams argues

1) that global food production is more fuel-efficient and more economically necessary (for developing countries that need export markets) than is local food production/consumption (“locovorism”);
2) that organic farming is no more healthy for people and for the land than is “wisely practiced” conventional agriculture;
3) that genetically-modified crops, in the right hands, are not to be feared and are in fact necessary to feed the ten billions of people who will live on this planet by 2050;
4) that we must drastically reduce our production and consumption of meat animals and non-farmed fish;
5) and that we must get rid of “perverse” subsidies that undercut fair trade.

go to amazon.com reviews of the book…

 

Local supply chains: Case studies from USA

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This document provides background on study design and methods for a coordinated set of case studies on local food supply chains that was funded by the USDA’s Economic Research Service.

The study report – Comparing the Structure, Size, and Performance of Local and Mainstream Food Supply Chains, USDA, Economic Research Service, ERR-99 – is available at

foodindustrycenter.umn.edu/Local_Food_Case_Studies.html. 

 

 

Local foodscapes: place and power in the agri-food system – Roberta Sonnino – Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B – Soil & Plant Science, 2013

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This article summarizes a decade of research engagement with local food systems, highlighting some key changes in the scholarly perception of their nature and potential. Based on a synthesis of case studies from different countries, the article identifies three key stages that have shaped the research agenda on food re-localizations: (1) an early enthusiasm for the potential of local food networks, which were deemed to embody the environmental and socio-economic objectives of sustainable development; (2) a growing awareness of the fragility of these initiatives, which was followed by the emergence of a powerful critique known as ‘the local trap’; and (3) the recent re-scaling of food policy at the local level, where cities are taking the lead in responding to the current food insecurity crisis. As the article concludes, there is a new research agenda emerging around the role of the multi-level state, the planning system and sustainability research in scaling up and out these governance innovations.

download the paper

Sustainable Society Foundation: A Sustainable Society Index

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The Sustainable Society Foundation, SSF, is a non-profit organization, established in 2006 with the objective of stimulating and assisting societies in their development towards sustainability. The SSF is based in The Netherlands and operates globally. The SSF has developed the Sustainable Society Index, SSI, which shows at a glance the level of sustainability of 151 countries

go to SSF website

ssf

Small farms and short supply chains in the European Union – Position Paper of Via Campesina Europe

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During the review of the Quality package, the The DG Agri proposed the creation of an European label « Product form my farm ». It should be created to simplify direct promotion to consumers. It is a way to reinforce actual or future tools for the rural development. This topic is the main object of a special Working group depending on the Quality advisory group for the dg Agri.

For ECVC, this potential label has to be created to champion «Peasant Farming» (Agriculture paysanne).

download the position paper: ECVC-Position zu DV_ProductOfMyFarm

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