“Tell me what you eat: I will tell you what you are.”
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Fortunately for America, an alternative emerged from the counter-culture of California in the late 1960s and early 1970s, where a group of political anti-corporate protesters–led by Alice Waters–voiced their dissent by creating a food chain outside of the conventional system. The unintended result was the birth of a vital local-sustainable-organic food movement which has brought back taste and variety to our tables.
FOOD FIGHT is a fascinating look at how American agricultural policy and food culture developed in the 20th century, and how the California food movement has created a counter-revolution against big agribusiness.
What is sustainable food?
A sustainable food system is a type of food system that provides healthy food to people while also providing sustainable impacts on both environmental, economic and social systems that surround food.
Sustainable food systems start with the development of sustainable agricultural practices, development of more sustainable food distribution systems, creation of sustainable diets and reduction of food waste throughout the system. Sustainable food systems have been argued to be central to many or all 17 Sustainable Development Goals [“Sustainable food systems” (PDF). Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations].
Moving to sustainable food systems is an important component of addressing the causes of climate change. A 2020 review conducted for the European Union found that up to 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions could be attributed to the food system, including crop and livestock production, transportation, changing land use (including deforestation) and food loss and waste. Sustainable food systems are frequently at the center of sustainability focused policy programs, such as proposed Green New Deal programs.
Problems with conventional food systems
Industrial agriculture causes environmental impacts, as well as health problems associated with obesity in the rich world and hunger in the poor world. This has generated a strong movement towards healthy, sustainable eating as a major component of overall ethical consumerism.
Conventional food systems are largely based on the availability of inexpensive fossil fuels, which is necessary for mechanized agriculture, the manufacture or collection of chemical fertilizers, the processing of food products, and the packaging of foods. Food processing began when the number of consumers started growing rapidly. The demand for cheap and efficient calories climbed resulting in nutrition decline. Industrialized agriculture, due to its reliance on economies of scale to reduce production costs, often leads to the compromising of local, regional, or even global ecosystems through fertilizer runoff, nonpoint source pollution, and greenhouse gas emission.
Also, the need to reduce production costs in an increasingly global market can cause production of foods to be moved to areas where economic costs (labor, taxes, etc.) are lower or environmental regulations are more lax, which are usually further from consumer markets. For example, the majority of salmon sold in the United States is raised off the coast of Chile, due in large part to less stringent Chilean standards regarding fish feed and regardless of the fact that salmon are not indigenous in Chilean coastal waters. The globalization of food production can result in the loss of traditional food systems in less developed countries, and have negative impacts on the population health, ecosystems, and cultures in those countries.
Sourcing sustainable food
At the global level the environmental impact of agribusiness is being addressed through sustainable agriculture and organic farming. At the local level there are various movements working towards local food production, more productive use of urban wastelands and domestic gardens including permaculture, urban horticulture, local food, slow food, sustainable gardening, and organic gardening.
Sustainable seafood is seafood from either fished or farmed sources that can maintain or increase production in the future without jeopardizing the ecosystems from which it was acquired. The sustainable seafood movement has gained momentum as more people become aware about both overfishing and environmentally destructive fishing methods.
Source: Wikipedia
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Websites/Articles:
Huffington Post:
What Is Sustainable Food?
Sustain web: https://www.sustainweb.org/sustainablefood/what_is_sustainable_food/
Dailymeal.com
https://www.thedailymeal.com/healthy-eating/what-sustainable-food-and-why-and-how-should-you-cook-it-slideshow
Lynchburg grows – an example of an organisation helping to deal with food deserts
Our mission is to work with our community to provide access to healthy food and afford purposeful jobs to individuals with disabilities.
https://www.lynchburggrows.org/
Shalom Farms – an example of an organisation helping to deal with food deserts
We believe everyone should have good food– food that is good for our bodies, good for the environment, and good for our communities. However, thousands in Richmond lack access to healthy food. Many people also lack the tools and resources to cook it, eat it, and share it. Through sustainable agriculture and hands-on experiences, Shalom Farms works with communities to ensure access to healthy food, and the support to lead healthy lives.
https://shalomfarms.org/
European Commission:: https://ec.europa.eu/environment/archives/eussd/food.htm
FAO: http://www.fao.org/sustainability/en/
How ultra-processed food took over your shopping basket [13.02.2020]
It’s cheap, attractive and convenient, and we eat it every day – it’s difficult not to. But is ultra-processed food making us ill and driving the global obesity crisis?
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Reports:
- Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations: Ultra-process foods, diet quality and health using the NOVA classification system
Full report here
- John Hopkins Center for A Livable Future
Report: ‘Food Desert’ Gets a Name Change in Response to Baltimore Community Feedback [17.01.2018]
https://clf.jhsph.edu/about-us/news/news-2018/report-food-desert-gets-name-change-response-baltimore-community-feedback
Full report here
- “True” Costs For Food System Reform: An Overview Of True Cost Accounting Literature And Initiatives
Full report here - British Medical Journal: Consumption of ultra-processed foods and cancer risk: results from NutriNet-Santé prospective cohort [14.02.2018]
Full report here
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Videos
Living In a Food Desert Documentary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jicYbi-8ZNU
4.03.2015 Across Virginia – from Hampton to Richmond, Petersburg to Lynchburg to Wise County and all points in between – approximately 17.8 percent of Virginia’s population live in food desert. This documentary was produced by VSU as part of a study on food insecurity in the College of Agriculture.
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Organisations
Slow Food USA
VISION
Food represents a common language and universal right. Slow Food USA envisions a world in which all people can eat food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it and good for the planet. In essence, food that is good, clean and fair.
MISSION
Seeking to create dramatic and lasting change in the food system, Slow Food USA reconnects Americans with the people, traditions, plants, animals, fertile soils and waters that produce our food. We inspire individuals and communities to change the world through food that is good, clean and fair for all:
GOOD
- Believe in delicious nutrition as a right for everyday life
- Cultivate joyful connections to community and place
- Advocate for diversity in ecosystems and societies
CLEAN
- Protect natural resources for future generations
- Help people and the environment depend on each other
- Promote food that is local, seasonal, and sustainably grown
FAIR
- Build local cooperation and global collaboration while respecting all laws
- Require no prerequisite or credential for participation
- Fight for dignity of labor from field to fork
Join us to connect the pleasures of the table with a commitment to the communities, cultures, knowledge, and environment that make this pleasure possible.
