scholarly journals A learning journey guide for building food system resilience in protracted crises to improve food and nutrition outcomes : A toolbox for FNS-REPRO communities of practice

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eelke Boerema ◽  
◽  
Herman Brouwer ◽  
Charleen Malkowsky ◽  
Gerrit-Jan van Uffelen
Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 156
Author(s):  
Simona Tarra ◽  
Giampiero Mazzocchi ◽  
Davide Marino

The restriction measures linked to the COVID-19 shock suddenly highlighted the vulnerability of most socioeconomic systems, including the food sector. In a context in which the limitation to the movement of people and goods has put the longer and more structured supply chains in serious difficulty, many experiences and initiatives have emerged as viable alternatives. The aim of the research was to understand if and how the Solidarity Purchasing Groups (SPG) of Rome have contributed to the resilience of the food system of the metropolitan city during the lockdown. The research was based on the results of a questionnaire administered to the SPGs of Rome during the first period of the pandemic (April–July 2020), enriched by some in-depth interviews carried out by the authors. What emerged was that, despite the limited extent in terms of products conveyed within the whole food system, the SPGs represented an important food supply channel during the lockdown period, for two main reasons: a greater flexibility and agility in moving and in handling goods and the possibility of remunerating local farms, contributing to the resilience of the local agri-food fabric. The analysis of the results confirms the strong vitality of such Food Movements in Rome and, at the same time, allows for the identification of a series of interventions that the institutions could adopt to favor the spread of a food environment more compatible with more sustainable and fairer forms of food production and distribution.


2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4271 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monika Zurek ◽  
Aniek Hebinck ◽  
Adrian Leip ◽  
Joost Vervoort ◽  
Marijke Kuiper ◽  
...  

Steering the EU food system towards a sustainability transformation requires a vast and actionable knowledge base available to a range of public and private actors. Few have captured this complexity by assessing food systems from a multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective, which would include (1) nutrition and diet, environmental and economic outcomes together with social equity dimensions and (2) system interactions across country, EU and global scales. This paper addresses this gap in food systems research and science communication by providing an integrated analytical approach and new ways to communicate this complexity outside science. Based on a transdisciplinary science approach with continuous stakeholder input, the EU Horizon2020 project ‘Metrics, Models and Foresight for European SUStainable Food And Nutrition Security’ (SUSFANS) developed a five-step process: Creating a participatory space; designing a conceptual framework of the EU food system; developing food system performance metrics; designing a modelling toolbox and developing a visualization tool. The Sustainable Food and Nutrition-Visualizer, designed to communicate complex policy change-impacts and trade-off questions, enables an informed debate about trade-offs associated with options for change among food system actors as well as in the policy making arena. The discussion highlights points for further research related to indicator development, reach of assessment models, participatory processes and obstacles in science communication.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (14) ◽  
pp. e64101421596
Author(s):  
Beatriz Gouveia Moura ◽  
Jamille Caroso de Andrade ◽  
Adriana Correia dos Santos ◽  
Rodrigo do Nascimento Lopes ◽  
Maria Emília Lisboa Pacheco ◽  
...  

Discussions on the health consequences of the consumption of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are wide-ranging, but little has been addressed under systemic aspects, human rights, sovereignty and food and nutrition security, and socio-environmental sustainability. For this reason, the aim of this article was to analyze the systemic implications of children's access to UPFs. Secondary data from a cross-sectional survey conducted with pre-school students of two private schools in a capital city in the Northeastern region of Brazil were analyzed through the analysis of lunch boxes for three consecutive days. The most frequent UPFs had information about the manufacturing location, ingredients, and brand collected from their labels and subsequently studied. We noticed that most of the products were manufactured in other states, being transported for long distances, had little ingredient diversity, and belonged to sub-brands that conglomerate into “big players”. In this sense, we conclude that children are having their right to food violated and that access to UPFs by this public supports a hegemonic and unsustainable food system from a socio-environmental point of view that contributes to food and nutrition insecurity.


Agriculture ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dele Raheem ◽  
Maxim Shishaev ◽  
Vladimir Dikovitsky

The consumption of food and its safety are important for human security. In this paper, we reviewed the literature on future possibilities for transforming the food system through digital solutions in the Barents region. Such digital solutions will make food business operators more efficient, sustainable, and transparent. Developing cross-border infrastructures for digitalization in the region will break the isolation of the local food system, thus simplifying the availability of processed, novel and safe traditional food products. It is necessary for food growers and processors to respond to the trends driven by consumers’ demand while ensuring their safety. Our review highlights the opportunities provided by digital technology to ensure safety and help food business operators predict consumer trends in the future. In addition, digitalization can create conditions that are necessary for the diversification of organizational schemes and the effective monitoring of food processing operations that will help to promote food and nutrition security in the Barents region.


2019 ◽  
Vol 78 (3) ◽  
pp. 380-387 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. I. Macdiarmid ◽  
S. Whybrow

Climate change is threatening future global food and nutrition security. Limiting the increase in global temperature to 1·5 °C set out in The Paris Agreement (2015) while achieving nutrient security means overhauling the current food system to create one that can deliver healthy and sustainable diets. To attain this, it is critical to understand the implications for nutrition of actions to mitigate climate change as well as the impacts of climate change on food production and the nutrient composition of foods. It is widely recognised that livestock production has a much greater environmental burden than crop production, and therefore advice is to reduce meat consumption. This has triggered concern in some sectors about a lack of protein in diets, which hence is driving efforts to find protein replacements. However, in most high- and middle-income countries, protein intakes far exceed dietary requirements and it would even if all meat were removed from diets. Reduction in micronutrients should be given more attention when reducing meat. Simply eating less meat does not guarantee healthier or more sustainable diets. Climate change will also affect the type, amount and nutrient quality of food that can be produced. Studies have shown that increased temperature and elevated CO2 levels can reduce the nutrient density of some staple crops, which is of particular concern in low-income countries. Nutrition from a climate change perspective means considering the potential consequences of any climate action on food and nutrition security. In this paper, we discuss these issues from an interdisciplinary perspective.


2020 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 100360 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Kummu ◽  
Pekka Kinnunen ◽  
Elina Lehikoinen ◽  
Miina Porkka ◽  
Cibele Queiroz ◽  
...  

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