Geography - Book chapters

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/10468/1020

Browse

Now showing 1 - 5 of 38

Introduction: A research agenda for food systems
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022-10-25) Sage, Colin
The argument that 'food systems are broken' has been made widely over the past decade or more by an ever-growing roster of scholars and policy analysts. Following the first section that deconstructs the food system into key components and examines the way these interconnect, the chapter then goes on to identify and briefly explain major system failings. These include the triple burden of dietary inadequacy and non-communicable disease; a range of environmental impacts, including climate breakdown and wider ecological and health consequences; and issues around labour, inequality and food poverty. However, how such problems - and their proposed solutions - are framed requires paying close attention to different narratives representing very divergent interests. One recurrent term that is widely used - including by those anxious to maintain 'business as usual' - is that of sustainability. This is examined more closely in relation to its deployment as a prefix for agriculture - where the principles of agroecology are outlined - and for diets where the challenges for reshaping consumption practices are explored.
Beyond the pyramid: creating a Food Policy Council in Cork
(Cork City Libraries, 2023) Sage, Colin; Cahill, Denise; O'Mullane, Monica; Cahill, Denise
While there is much pride in the way agricultural production in Ireland has grown over the past couple of decades, it remains somewhat paradoxical that the food system here remains a relatively neglected source of concern to many. To differentiate the food system from agriculture is to pay attention to the many different elements and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food (HLPE, 2017; Sage 2022a). In this respect it brings dietary practices – and their consequences – into sharper relief and asks questions about what different groups of people are eating and why. Invariably this causes us to recognise the existence of sharp social inequalites which are demonstrated not only by the types of foods consumed but by their consequences in dietary health terms. With rising levels of overweight and obesity, Type II diabetes and a range of cardio-vascular disease all tied to patterns of food consumption that are high in saturated fats, sugar and salt, there has been a gradual recognition amongst public health professionals to address the food system. Yet top-down messaging urging people to eat in line with the Food Pyramid, and to ensure they get their Five-a-Day has had limited success. Besides, such messages fail to acknowledge that individual decisions about what to eat are shaped by advertising, social norms and the pressures (time, money, commitments and responsibilities) of daily life.
Grass, food and climate in a time of uncertainty
(Nature, Art and Habitat (NAHR), 2024) Sage, Colin; Casciato, Maristella; Coleman, Lucinda; Invernizzi, Sara; Korda, Roxanne; Molina, Richard; Scardi, Gabi; Suner, Asli; Weintraub, Deborah
At a time when we are confronted by a global crisis of planetary heating and biodiversity loss, this essay provocatively suggests that 'grasses and pastures' may be presenting one of our most challenging and contested plant communities. Today, half of the world's habitable land is occupied by agriculture and 77 percent of this is used by livestock as pasture for grazing or for the growing of feed crops (Ritchie and Roser 2020). The expansion of agricultural land around the world is a consequence not only of a growth in human numbers but also a hange in dietary patterns. This 'nutrition transition', as it is called, is characterized above all by increasing consumption of meat and dairy which has resulted in a huge growth in the numbers of animals reared -and slaughtered (an estimated 80 billion annually) - for their products. Increasingly, the question is being asked: if we are to restore some equilibrium with the planet, should we change our diet by replacing the large quantities of meat and dairy eaten by many in rich and middle-income countries, with more plant-based foods? If we were to do so, what would be the implications for farmers engaged in small to medium-scale livestock production and for the grasslands and pastures on which they depend?
The food system, planetary boundaries and eating for 1.5°C: the case for mutualism and commensality within a safe and just operating space for humankind
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022-10-25) Sage, Colin
The food system is a major contributor to the current ecological crisis and climate emergency. Yet while agriculture holds responsibility for the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions, it is clear that decisions made in the realm of consumption - our food choices - drive market signals that lead to agricultural expansion and intensification. All too frequently 'consumers' are regarded simply as acting only with economic self-interest and portrayed as lacking effective agency. Drawing on the Doughnut model that usefully extends the Planetary Boundaries framework, the chapter argues for building a greater sense of mutualism if we are to achieve nutritional security within a safe operating space and guided by principles of intra- and inter-generational justice. Recent scientific evidence (IPCC, AR6) suggests that early efforts to reduce methane emissions would provide relatively quick gains in the global effort to meet the 1.5°C Paris target. One way to do this would be to tackle dietary practices in the wealthiest countries, especially reductions in meat consumption, that while yielding co-benefits for human health would permit space for others in low-income countries to achieve their own nutritional security. The chapter proposes that concepts such as mutualism and commensality - the act of eating together - could be harnessed in pursuing this goal.
Challenging corporate charity: Food commons as a response to food insecurity
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023-08-15) Kenny, Tara; Sage, Colin; Caraher, Martin; Coveney, John; Chopra, Mickey
Recognising that food insecurity is a structural feature that requires profound food system and public policy transformation, this paper critically examines the increasing volumes of surplus food redistributed via food charities in many rich societies. The role of corporate charitable donations is widely celebrated as a ‘win-win’ that reduces food waste and feeds hungry people. Noting the inability of such interventions to address the structural causes of food insecurity, and its propensity to maintain and support problematic ideologies, practices, and power imbalances the chapter offers an alternative perspective that argues for the need to move beyond food as commodity and appreciate its other vital attributes. Reviewing two alternative models of food redistribution – labelled ‘brokerage’ and ‘challenger’ – the chapter highlights the corporate dominance of the former while the latter offers the prospects to rethink ways out of food poverty traps. Drawing upon the notion of food as a commons, it argues that reformed public welfare provision together with diverse community initiatives grounded in principles of conviviality could offer an alternative route to addressing food insecurity.

Browse

Recent Submissions