Localizing global food: short food supply chains as responses to agri-food system challenges
New Routledge pubication edited by Agni Kalfagianni. Agni is Associate Professor of Transnational Sustainability Governance at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, University of Utrecht.
The sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems is one of the key goals of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda. Agricultural activities for global food production significantly affect land use change and the subsequent functioning of terrestrial ecosystems and services to humans.
In this context, short food supply chains (SFSCs) that rely primarily on local production and processing practices for the provision of food are, in principle, more sustainable in social, economic and environmental terms than supply chains where production and consumption are widely separated.
An interdisciplinary review and assessment
‘Localizing Global Food’ reviews and assesses recent initiatives on this topic from an interdisciplinary perspective. In theoretical terms it draws on and advances two key concepts, namely, place (particularly embeddedness in local economic networks and communities) and governance (particularly in addressing sustainability concerns in an inclusive and socially just manner).
Examination of a diverse set of short food supply chains
Empirically, the book examines a diverse set of SFSCs such as small-scale entrepreneurship, farmers’ markets, community supported agriculture and grassroots and solidarity networks. The main examples discussed are from Europe and North America, but the issues are applicable in a global context. The book is of interest to advanced students, researchers and professionals in food studies, sociology, geography, planning, politics and environmental studies.
Publication
KALFAGIANNI, A. and S.SKORDILI. Localizing Global Food: Short Food Supply Chains as Responses to Agri-Food System Challenges. Routledge, 2019.