Sustainable Food Consumption And Production In The 21st Century

Sustainability is one of the great problems facing food production today. Using cross-disciplinary perspectives from international scholars working in social, cultural and biological anthropology, ecology and environmental biology, this volume brings many new perspectives to the problems we face. Its cross-disciplinary framework of chapters with local, regional and continental perspectives provides a global outlook on sustainability issues. These case studies will appeal to those working in public sector agencies, NGOs, consultancies and other bodies focused on food security, human nutrition and environmental sustainability.

Agricultural and food consumption practices are the most important contributors to ecosystem degradation and climate change. Consumers are called on to take responsibility for sustainable development; to consider the environment in their everyday life, to choose more sustainably produced goods and services. However, often consumers are not directly involved in food production and preparation. Today many of the meals we eat are prepared by someone other than ourselves. In addition, environmental and social issues of food production might be important to us but they have to be weighed up against a range of situational and personal considerations. Thus 'making a sustainable choice' can be far from straightforward. This book explores the question 'how sustainable food consumption can be encouraged' using social practices theory. This approach focuses not on the individual behaviour of consumers, but on everyday food practices (like shopping for food, eating lunch at work, etc.) and their context. The book discusses how Dutch consumers engage in sustainable food consumption on an everyday basis, and how consumers with different grocery shopping practices differ in this engagement. A second study considers the sustainable development of food provisioning within business catering (food procurement and provisioning). Here we discover the importance of food professionals and the opportunities that canteens and kitchens offer to explore more sustainable ways of eating. Both studies illustrate how a context-oriented approach leads to insights on where we find leverage points for changing consumption patterns.

Industrial agriculture is responsible for widespread environmental degradation and undermines the pursuit of human well-being. With a projected global population of 10 billion by 2050, it is urgent for humanity to achieve a more sustainable approach to farming and food systems. This concise text offers an overview of the key issues in sustainable food production for all readers interested in the ecology and environmental impacts of agriculture. It details the ecological foundations of farming and food systems, showing how knowledge from the natural and social sciences can be used to create sustainable alternatives to the industrial production methods used today. Beginning with a discussion of the role of agriculture in human development, the primer examines how twentieth-century farming methods are environmentally and socially unsustainable, contributing to global change and perpetuating inequalities. The authors explain the principles of environmental sustainability and explore how these principles can be put into practice in agrifood systems. They emphasize the importance of human well-being and insist on the centrality of social and environmental equity and justice. Sustainable Food Production is a compelling guide to how we can improve our ability to feed each other today and preserve the ability of our planet to do so tomorrow. Appropriate for a range of courses in the natural and social sciences, it provides a comprehensive yet accessible framework for achieving agricultural sustainability in the Anthropocene.

This Brief examines the sustainability of energy use in global food production and processing. The nexus between food, water, and energy are explored against a background of climate change. Current efforts to reduce the energy intensity of food and increase sustainability are explored. Food waste and its impact on energy is covered, including regional variations and nutrient recycling methods. Energy Use in Global Food Production uses case studies to illustrate how food production and processing is a significant contributor to anthropogenic climate change. Modern industrial agriculture uses fossil fuel to grow crops and produce fertilizers, pesticides and farm machinery. Additional energy is used to transport and process food at a primary and secondary level. With the median forecast for global population at more than 9 billion by 2030, a 30% increase over the current population, energy efficient food processing will be of increasing importance. This Brief provides an overview of current energy efficient food processing methods looks at the way forward as demands continue to increase. .

In the last decade, the world has grown richer and produced more food than ever before. Yet in that same period, hunger has increased and 925 million remain underfed and malnourished. Exploring this troubling paradox, The Feeding of Nations: Re-Defining Food Security for the 21st Century offers a glimpse into how the simple aspiration of global foo

Sustainable Food System Assessment provides both practical and theoretical insights about the growing interest in and response to measuring food system sustainability. Bringing together research from the Global North and South, this book shares lessons learned, explores intended and actual project outcomes, and highlights points of conceptual and methodological convergence. Interest in assessing food system sustainability is growing, as evidenced by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and the importance food systems initiatives have taken in serving as a lever for attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This book opens by looking at the conceptual considerations of food systems indicators, including the place-based dimensions of food systems indicators and how measurements are implicated in sense-making and visioning processes. Chapters in the second part cover operationalizing metrics, including the development of food systems indicator frameworks, degrees of indicator complexities, and practical constraints to assessment. The final part focuses on the outcomes of assessment projects, including impacts on food policy and communities involved, highlighting the importance of building connections between sustainable food systems initiatives. The global coverage and multi-scalar perspectives, including both conceptual and practical aspects, make this a key resource for academics and practitioners across planning, geography, urban studies, food studies, and research methods. It will also be of interest to government officials and those working within NGOs. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.routledge.com/Sustainable-Food-System-Assessment-Lessons-from-Global-Practice/Blay-Palmer-Conare-Meter-Battista-Johnston/p/book/9781032083933, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.