Experts estimate that close to half of the human impact on the environment is directly or indirectly related to food production and consumption.
This I pulled from the back cover of a book called “System Innovation for Sustainability 3“, case studies in sustainable consumption and production – food and agriculture. At first glance the book looks like a text book, something that will help me get to sleep quickly. The cover and title seem boring. But once inside I found many interesting and worthwhile reasons to recommend this to others.
Sustainability issues are now clearly on the agenda for food producers and market actors, politicians and regulators, as well as being increasingly important in the decisions consumers make about food. A large number and variety of efforts to stimulate sustainability have been instigated and numerous studies, research programmes and publications have addressed such issues. Agri-food issues have also been prominent in the evolving definition of what sustainability means.
This book focuses largely on providing answers to the question of how food production and consumption systems can stay within the limits of the carrying capacity of our natural environment. But it also considers the challenges of food security and nutrition in the context of sustainability and a growing world population.
Case studies by chapter number
3. Facilitating a more sustainable food and farming sector in the UK
Paul Dewick and Chris Foster, Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, UK, and Steve Webster, Delta-innovation Ltd, UK
4. Self-sufficiency or localisation? Sustainability and ambiguity in Britain’s food policy
Tim Cooper, Nottingham Trent University, UK
5. Transition towards sustainable consumption and production? The case of organic food in Denmark
Michael Søgaard Jørgensen, DTU Management Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
6. Socioeconomic aspects of farmers’ markets in Sweden
Helen Nilsson and Oksana Mont, International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, Lund University, Sweden
7. Open Garden: a local organic producer–consumer network in Hungary, going through various levels of system innovation
Edina Vadovics, Central European University, Department of Environmental Sciences and Policy, Hungary, and Matthew Hayes, Institute for Environmental Management, Szent István University and Nyitott Kert Alapitvány (Open Garden Foundation), Hungary
8. Slow food: counteracting fast food and fast living
Ingrid Kjørstad, National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO), Norway
9. Sambazon: creating environmental and social value through marketing the açai berry; sustainable agro-forestry practices in the Brazilian Amazon
Burcu Tunçer and Patrick Schroeder, UNEP/Wuppertal Institute Centre for Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP), Germany
10. Fairtrade Max Havelaar Norway: the Norwegian labelling organisation for fair trade
Ingri Osmundsvåg, National Institute for Consumer Research (SIFO), Norway
11. Verified sustainable agriculture: a practical experience and a significant contribution to sustainable consumption and production
Chris Wille and Joke Aerts, Rainforest Alliance, and Bernward Geier, Colabora
12. Life events as turning points for sustainable nutrition
Martina Schäfer and Adina Herde, Technische Universität Berlin, Germany, and Cordula Kropp, University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Go to greenleaf-publishing.com to buy this book at a 20% discount.