• Energy Research

Local food has recently gained popularity under the assumption that it is more sustainable than food from distant locations. However, evidence is still lacking to fully support this assumption. The goal of this study is to compare local and global food chains in five dimensions of sustainability (environmental, economic, social, ethical and health), covering all stages of the chain. In particular, four cheese supply chains are compared in detail: a local (L’Etivaz) and global (Le Gruyère) case in Switzerland and a local (Single Gloucester) and global (Cheddar) case in the UK. A multi-dimensional perspective is adopted to compare their sustainability performance. Eight attributes of performance (affordability, creation and distribution of added value, information and communication, consumer behaviour, resource use, biodiversity, nutrition and animal welfare) are used to frame the comparative analysis. The results suggest that local cheese performs better in the field of added value creation and distribution, animal welfare and biodiversity. Global chains, by contrast, perform better in terms of affordability and efficiency and some environmental indicators. This analysis needed to be expressed in qualitative terms rather than quantified indicators and it has been especially useful to identify the critical issues and trade-offs that hinder sustainability at different scales. Cheese supply chains in Switzerland and the UK also often present hybrid arrangements in term of local and global scales. Comparison is therefore most meaningful when presented on a local (farmhouse)/global (creamery) continuum.

Scholars in sustainability science as well as research funders increasingly recognize that a shift from disciplinary and interdisciplinary science to transdisciplinary (TD) research is required to address ever more complex sustainability challenges. Evidence shows that addressing real-world societal problems can be best achieved through collaborative research where diverse actors contribute different kinds of knowledge. While the potential benefits of TD research are widely recognized, its implementation remains a challenge. In this article, we develop a framework that supports reflection and co-learning. Our approach fosters monitoring of the collaboration processes, helps to assess the progress made and encourages continuous reflection and improvement of the research processes. The TD co-learning framework has four dimensions and 44 criteria. It is based on a substantial literature review and was tested in a Horizon 2020-funded research project ROBUST, which is applying experimental governance techniques to improve rural-urban relations in eleven European regions. The results demonstrate that the framework covers the key facets of TD collaboration and that all four broad dimensions matter. Each research-practice team reflected on how their collaboration is going and what needs to be improved. Indeed, the coordination team was able to see how well TD collaboration is functioning at a project level. We believe the framework will be valuable for actors involved in the planning and implementation of any type of multi-actor, interactive, innovation, transformation and action-oriented research project.

This third and final ‘Geographies of food’ review is based on an online blog conversation provoked by the first and second reviews in the series (Cook et al., 2006; 2008a). Authors of the work featured in these reviews — plus others whose work was not but should have been featured — were invited to respond to them, to talk about their own and other people’s work, and to enter into conversations about — and in the process review — other/new work within and beyond what could be called ‘food geographies’. These conversations were coded, edited, arranged, discussed and rearranged to produce a fragmentary, multi-authored text aiming to convey the rich and multi-stranded content, breadth and character of ongoing food studies research within and beyond geography.

The values associated with food are framed and constructed by market-based systems that assign attributes to different foods across the marketplace. The aim of the paper was to conceptualize the range of non-financial aspects associated with food in the literature examined and a typology was introduced to position a new set of non-financial food values, the alter-values, which support the creation of a more holistic approach to visualize and reimagine a more sustainable, resilient food system that readdresses and respects such values. The four alter-values of interest, intrinsic, production-related, supply chain related, and emotio-cultural values, were discussed in the context of changing food environments, and a visualization of the typology was presented to explain them. By focusing especially on intrinsic and emotio-cultural values, an adaptation of the current food environment beyond pecuniary-based emphasis was possible. Such an approach helps to challenge the structure of the conventional food system towards a more citizen-driven sustainable model, altering priorities, with a drive towards embedding values and going beyond perceiving food only in terms of exchange value, to considering food as a vital aspect of life.

This report communicates the ambition of the local food system to be a driver of transformation of lives, livelihoods, and landscapes in the UK. The Covid-19 pandemic was a test of the UK food system���s capacity to deal with emergencies and crises, events which are likely to become more frequent and more intense as climate change further disrupts ecological and social resources and structures. This report grows out of the ESRC-funded project ���COVID-19: the local as a site of food security resilience in the times of pandemic���, which specifically addressed the role that local food systems did play and can play in such moments of crisis. It aims to strengthen the public and policy understanding of the local food sector by describing its ambition. It was developed through a collaborative visioning process with key stakeholders in the UK���s local food sector. This report is future-oriented. It is not a description of what the UK���s local food systems are today, but of where they want to get to, and how they can get there. The Vision, Models, Definitions, and Narrative section illustrate how local food systems can become an engine of societal, economic, and ecological transformation. The Strategies section indicates three main arenas for action to make this transformation a reality.

The protection of geographical indications (European regulation 1151/2012) is arguably the most significant initiative, certainly within Europe, that promotes foods with territorial associations and reorganises agri-food chain governance through a strategy of reterritorialisation. Research on Protected Designation of Origins (PDOs) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGIs) suggests that they generate significant economic value at an EU-level, especially in certain countries. They can also help to deliver territorial rural development policy and develop new food markets. In this paper we examine the way the PDO scheme has been developed and applied in one commodity sector (cheese) in two countries (Switzerland and the UK), where the uptake of PDOs is variable. We adopt a food chain approach and examine specific cheese product case studies (at micro and meso levels) in both countries to better understand how the PDO scheme (as a territorialisation and respacing strategy) is implemented. L’Etivaz and Le Gruyère are examined in Switzerland. Single Gloucester and West Country cheddar are examined in the UK. The PDO scheme is an important governance strategy and regulatory system, but despite strict guidelines regarding implementation and geographical infrastructure there are notable differences between the UK and Switzerland in terms of how the label is used to organise and respatialise food chains: it is framed as a strategy to protect the rural economy in Switzerland but is promoted more as a mechanism to communicate and reconnect with consumers in the UK.

Governing food futures: Towards a ‘responsibility turn’ in food and agriculture. By: Nadine Arnold, Gianluca Brunori, Joost Dessein, Francesca Galli, Ritwick Ghosh, Allison Loconto, Damian MayeHow data-driven, privately ordered sustainability governance shapes US food supply chains: The case of field to market. By: Johann Strube, Leland Glenna, Maki Hatanaka, Jason Konefal, David ConnerWhat's the beef?: Debating meat, matters of concern and the emergence of online issue publics. By: Damian Maye, John Fellenor, Clive Potter, Julie Urquhart, Julie BarnettImpossible solutions: Competing values in marketing alternative proteins for sustainable food systems. By: Elizabeth RansomResponsibilising the Fairtrade Premium: Imagining better decision-making. By: Allison Marie Loconto, Nadine Arnold, Laura Silva-Castañeda, Alejandra JimenezFostering responsible food consumption: A framework combining practice theories and pragmatism applied to an institutional experimental tool. By: Martina Tuscano, Claire Lamine, Marine Bre-GarnierAccountability beyond measurement. The role of meetings in shaping governance instruments and governance outcomes in food systems through the lens of the Donau Soja organisation. By: Dana C. BentiaFarmers’ empowerment and learning processes in accountability practices: An assemblage perspective. By: Jérémie ForneyDigital transformation of agriculture and rural areas: A socio-cyber-physical system framework to support responsibilisation. By: Kelly Rijswijk, Laurens Klerkx, Manlio Bacco, Fabio Bartolini, ... Gianluca BrunoriA new rural in the city: A no-middlemen markets’ ethnography. By: Nafsika Papacharalampous