Center for Good Food Purchasing’s Post

Can you help please? My PhD student (Sylvia) - co-supervised by Professor Liz Breen and Professor Maria Bryant (University of York) is conducting ground-breaking #research on access to #food in #Bradford and the impact of #healthy and #sustainable food upon families. You don't need to necessarily live in Bradford to contribute to this (but it would be great if you did!). The insight this study will give will inform our understanding of food security, the food #system in an urban environment, health, #supply chain and #circular economy / sustainability impacts. Here is the request: We have been told that we need to eat healthy food! We are then told that our food should be environmentally friendly. Is it affordable? Is it practical? Do we even know what that means?   My name is Sylvia and I'm a PhD researcher in the University of Bradford School of Management researching into these challenges.   As part of my project, I am working with the City of Bradford "Good Food Strategy" to explore the accessibility of ‘Sustainable’ food, in order to consider changes that could be introduced to our food retail ecosystem that would help people living across the District.   I am conducting a survey to find out if a "sustainable diet" is accessible and affordable for everyone and I would really appreciate your help in contributing to this important and impactful research.   Your opinion counts, your experience counts and your voice is vital. It should only take 5-10 minutes to complete.   Survey link: https://lnkd.in/dS3cyBHj   Please share with your contacts! Everyone's feedback, wherever they may be, is a valuable contribution.   Please let me know if you have any questions about the research [email protected]

Discover the key takeaways from the SIANI annual meeting, which delved deep into the impact of rapid urbanisation on #FoodSystems and innovative solutions for urban and rural development challenges. Key Takeaways: ✅ Prioritising #resilience: Addressing the need for resilient food systems, especially during crises and rapid urbanisation. ✅ #Inclusivity: Emphasising inclusivity to ensure everyone benefits from sustainable and improved food systems. Collaboration is key: 🔑 The meeting highlighted the power of collaboration in driving positive change. By fostering #collaboration, we can turn ideas into actionable projects and make a real impact. 🔗 #Collab4FS: Let's continue to collaborate and work together towards transforming our food systems. Networks play a crucial role in disseminating #knowledge and ideas, bridging gaps, and driving effective change.

#SystemsChange is hard work. Some important elements are knowing where you're going, activating critical leverage points and having the "right" people in various rooms to build the roadmap and move the work forward, sometimes incrementally, sometimes radically. I am thankful that Chicago Food Policy Action Council has trusted me and my team at Illinois Institute of Technology to work with them to conduct research that supports the transition to a more #just, #equitable and #sustainable regional #foodsystem around Chicago. Here we present a feasibility study for #FoodHubs in #Chicagoland, an approach for small regional farmers and food producers to cooperate and aggregate their efforts to serve institutional market needs. The study involves a comparative analysis of food hubs across the United States, to garner trends in the sector and identify successful case studies. This is combined with a Chicago-focused market analysis, including a series of interviews and questions with existing food hubs, aggregators, and farmers to determine what niches and business models are most needed and likely to succeed. Thanks to Rodger Cooley and Marlie Wilson for their vision and trust, and to current and former students who did the work: Jay Qureshi, Veronica Paz Soldan, Ursula Sjursen Hersh, MPPA, Deepakshi Tulshan, and Carolina Silva Carmona, and the wide community of growers, supply chain representatives and food justice advocates who shared their insights and perspectives.

Great shout-out to our annual summit “In Community with Food” (ICWF): "It brings people together over shared meals prepared by renowned local and international chefs, using ingredients sourced from Hawaiʻian farms. ICWF is not a typical conference: It is a three-day dinner conversation, where business leaders, chefs, impact investors, innovators, indigenous leaders, media experts, farmers, and artists from Hawaiʻi and around the world discuss the environmental and systemic challenges facing the food industry today."

Did you know that enough food is produced to feed 10 billion people? That raises the question: how is it possible that hunger still exists when we have 8 billion people living on this planet? 🍒🥯 From food waste to inefficient use of resources (for example: feeding animals day after day, so one day humans can eat them), our system needs improvement. We need to build an inclusive food system. One that ensures food security, eliminates hunger and supports sustainable development. The following speakers will talk about this on stage: 🚜 Lisa Jordan (moderator), Managing Director at Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation; 🚜 Michiel Elich, CEO at Powered by Enviu; 🚜 Carol Gribnau, Director at The DOEN Foundation; 🚜 Pratap Thapa, Co-founder & CEO at aQysta | Small Farmers. Big Impact; 🚜 Lucas Simons, CEO at SCOPEinsight; 🚜 Martijn Scheltema, Lawyer and Partner at Pels Rijcken. Would you like to join smaller sessions about this topic? Then make sure to check out the meetups and roundabouts. Take for example “Protein Transition - taste of novel foods” (Provincie Zuid-Holland), “Let's create a food system that makes healthy food accessible for low-income groups?” (#MOERVERS), and ”The Role of Bees in Food Security” (BeeSage). 🐝 Hungry for more? 👉 View the full program: https://lnkd.in/eYmJcvah

Registration for Farm to Plate's Annual Gathering is live! The theme of this year's Gathering is "Transformative Change". There is a growing sense in Vermont and the Farm to Plate Network that now is the time to "be brave" in how we work together to address some of the most pressing issues facing our state, region, and world. Business as usual no longer feels up to the task of addressing issues like climate change, economic inequality, industry and market consolidation, food insecurity, and racial inequity. To emerge out of the next decade with climate resilience and environmental sustainability, shared economic prosperity, food security, and racial equity, together we need to cultivate new mindsets, culture, institutions, business models, and behaviors that can transform the structure, function, and purpose of our food system. Over two days, we will engage in transformational thinking and practice to better understand how we can create and support the conditions for transformational change. Through personal stories and breakout sessions spanning all aspects of the food system, we’ll learn about the successes and struggles of those in Vermont’s food system who are already involved in transformational work.

Ecosystem Map As part of our Network Activation, we are launching our Ecosystem Map. The map consist of the Primary Actors working along the value chain from production to distribution, markets, consumption, and waste and recovery. It also consists of Support Actors such as nonprofits, associations, research institutions, and government agencies that help support primary actors in different capacities. Building values-based and community-led food systems is complex. It has many moving parts, and for them to be successful, it involves diverse food actors working together from the ground up and top down with the expectation to bring social, environmental and economic benefits to our communities. The Ecosystem Map helps amplify these efforts. The map serves as a visual and connective tool, bridging primary actors and support entities. It illuminates the diverse roles and expertise within the ecosystem, creating fertile ground for networking opportunities and potential collaborations. This map functions as a guiding compass, helping in the comprehension of the local food system's intricacies. It allows us to pinpoint both gaps and opportunities, nurturing a more informed and strategic approach to decision-making. Furthermore, it provides a clear roadmap for prioritizing efforts and investments, strengthening the local food chain, and effectively addressing specific challenges along the way. To join our Network, and the Ecosystem Map, visit www.northernfoodways.ca

Dive into “Kitchen Literacy” by Ann Vileisis, an eye-opening exploration of our lost connection with where our food comes from and why it matters. Through historical narratives and primary sources, Vileisis uncovers the scientific, political, and personal impacts of America’s journey back to understanding our food origins. Starting in 1998, Vileisis questions the origins of her store-bought food, contrasting her experience with an 18th-century woman’s life of local sourcing and meal planning. This shift from local, farm-based living to reliance on industrial food production transformed our relationship with food — and not always for the better. Industrialization brought food from afar, decreased quality, and increased reliance on processed goods. Vileisis highlights the dangers of early food preservation methods and the significant changes brought by federal regulations like the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act. The world wars and postwar era emphasized cheap abundance over freshness, leading to a disconnect between consumers and their food. However, the 1950s and ’60s brought a counterculture movement favoring natural, fresh foods. Icons like Julia Child and Alice Waters revolutionized home cooking and the farm-to-table movement, empowering consumers to demand better food quality and transparency. Today, thanks to farmers markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), and a renewed interest in home gardening, we’re regaining our kitchen literacy. But challenges like obesity and climate change remind us that our food choices still shape our world. Ready to reconnect with your food’s story? Add “Kitchen Literacy” to your reading list and embark on a journey to understand and improve our food system. Read the review here: https://ow.ly/M54E50SjfhL #summerreading #bookrecommendation

Resilient food systems was the focus of our discussion at the sold-out March ImpactNights yesterday. The City of Dallas has been a leader among big cities with its holistic and participatory climate action plan, which includes a strong focus on food systems. The new food system map that Yaritza Torres Espinoza demoed is a much needed data-based tool that empowers and informs ground-up #climateaction in Dallas, in particular in the areas of urban agriculture and food based community health efforts.  (see link in comments) Urban agriculture is increasingly recognized as a key element of food system resilience. According to the recent global report “The Economics of the Food System Transformation” (see link in comments), urban agriculture can feed a billion people, while supporting progress towards strengthening the overall resilience of communities. In the meantime it contributes to several other #SDGs such as livelihoods, environmentally sustainable food production, local supply chains, enhanced ecosystem services and climate adaptation countering the urban heat island effect. It is estimated that Berlin could supply over 80% of all of its vegetable needs from urban agriculture. There is great potential for urban food resiliency efforts to tap into global research and best practices.  Our food systems, however, are more influenced by the social and community context than any other area of basic need. Needless to say, in the case of the Dallas specific discussion last night it did not take long for the conversation to shift to the problem of food deserts, market failures when it comes to food retail, issues with incentives and their unintended consequences, the importance of evidence-based programs and policies, just to name a few. In other words a strong reminder that food system resilience starts with meeting the basic human need for healthy and affordable food access.  My gratitude to the co-leads of this important cross-sectoral conversation for their invaluable insights, Rabekha Siebert of the City of Dallas, Jenny Eyer of the American Heart Association, Anga Sanders of FEED Oak Cliff, Jeff Bednar of Profound Foods, and to Rebecca Pearce for brilliantly moderating the conversation. SMU Hunter & Stephanie Hunt Institute for Engineering & Humanity

Quite glad to have contributed to this tremendous effort to have curated and analysed 50 indicators (a flexible and evolving list) to track progress towards fairer and more sustainable food systems in 190 countries. 1.- ZERO countries are doing fine in all indicators (those with highest GDP are underperforming in many indicators) 2.- Only 29 countries recognize food as a human right (assuming the other 150 countries value food as a commodity only) 3.- In 54 countries, more than 50% of their populations cannot afford a healthy diet. The #UNFSS Transition Pathways have a hard work to do