Speaker: Alison Blay-Palmer Session: Sustainability in Agriculture and Agri-Food: Different Perspectives

1.
Alison
Blay-­‐Palmer
Wilfrid
Laurier
University
Nourishing
Communi<es
Centre
for
Sustainable
Food
Systems

2. Why Sustainable?
• Sustainability
is
about
taking
care
of
things
now
so
present
and
future
genera<ons
are
secure
• Process
of
moving
towards
a
des<na<on
that
includes:
• Economic
viability
• Ecological
resilience
and
health
• Social
jus<ce
2

3. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
JUST,
FAIR

4. Social
• Social
jus<ce:
• Everyone
has
access
to
healthy
food
at
affordable
prices
and
farm
families
and
other
businesses
along
the
food
chain
can
earn
a
living
wage
from
their
work
4

5. Sustainable
Food
Systems
DEMOCRATIC,
PARTICIPATORY

6. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
JUST,
FAIR,
BUILD
NETWORKS,
SOLIDARITY,
CREATE
KNOLWEDGE
FLOWS

7. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
SOCIAL
JUSTICE

8. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
REGENERATION,
FLOWS

9. Ecological
• Ecological
resilience
and
health:
• Produce
high
quality,
safe
food
without
compromising
the
land,
seed
and
biodiversity
resources
• E.g.
Pollinators
and
their
habitat
9

10. Photo
by
Erin
Nelson
SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
ECOLOGICALLY
REGENERATIVE

11. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
CLOSED
LOOP

12. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
CLOSED
LOOP

13. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
SHARING
KNOWLEDGE

14. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
ECONOMIC
VIABILITY

15. Economic
• Economic
viability
for
rural
communi<es
and
farm
families,
with
an
emphasis
on
local
where
feasible
• Provides
communi<es
with
more
resources
making
them
more
vibrant
(Williams
et
al.
2013
–
Func<onal
economy)
• e.g.
mul<plier
effect
=
1.4
for
large
farms
and
2.6
where
small
scale
farms
predominate
(Meter
2008)
• Sustain,
Avalon,
2012
15

16. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
DIVERSE,
MULTIFUNCTIONAL

17. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
ECONOMICALLY
DIVERSE
AND
RESILIENT

18. Why
sustainability?
INTERNATIONAL
CONTEXT
18

19. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
USDA
FOOD
HUB
STUDY,
2013,
NUMBER
OF
YEARS
IN
OPERATION
62%
IN
OPERATION
FOR
LESS
THAN
5
YEARS

20. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
USDA
FOOD
HUB
STUDY,
2013,
OPERATIONAL
STRUCTURE
47%
NON-­‐PROFIT
OR
CO-­‐OP

21. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
USDA
FOOD
HUB
STUDY,
2013,
PERCETN
OF
FARMS
THAT
ARE
SMALL
OR
MID-­‐SIZED
76%
ALL
OR
MOST

22. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
USDA
FOOD
HUB
STUDY,
2013,
PRODUCER
PRACTICES
Antibiotic-free, 49 % “prefer”, 43 % “require”
Free-range / Pasture-raised, 60 % “prefer”, 35 % “require”

23. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
USDA
FOOD
HUB
STUDY,
2013,
CHANGES
IN
PRODUCER
PRACTICES

24. Interna<onal
bodies
• World
Commihee
on
Food
Security:
– Emphasis
on
small
shareholder
– Poverty
allevia<on
– Ac<on
orienta<on
• East
Asian
Summit:
– Ahen<on
to
both
food
and
energy
security:
• “Promote
responsible
agricultural
investment
that
respects
rights,
livelihoods
and
resources”
• “Sustainable
food
security
is
an
important
element
in
EAS's
long-­‐
term
sustainable
future,
and
has
a
direct
impact
on
the
people
of
the
region,
the
leaders
agreed,
while
no<ng
that
it
also
overlaps
with
many
key
areas
of
the
EAS,
such
as
the
environment,
energy,
global
health
and
connec<vity.”

25. EU
Consulta<on
on
Food
System
Sustainability
• Exploring
type
and
scale
of
ac<on
for:
• Technical
knowledge
on
environmental
impact
of
food
• S<mulate
sustainable
food
produc<on
and
consump<on
• Reducing
food
waste
and
loss
• Improving
policy
coherence
25

26. Australia – National Food Plan
$1.5
million
AU
Build
and
diversify
agriculture
26

27. Na<onal
Food
Plan
(2012:3)
• “Our
food
system
isn’t
just
about
high
yield
agriculture
and
exports,
it
is
also
about
local
communi<es
growing,
preparing
and
sharing
food.
We
are
commihed
to
suppor<ng
the
growing
numbers
of
farmers’
markets,
food
sharing
networks
and
community
gardens
around
the
country.
We
will
also
work
to
embed
food
and
agriculture
within
the
na<onal
curriculum
so
that
our
kids
know
where
food
comes
from
and
value
the
hard
working
Australians
who
produce
it.”
(Minister
of
Agriculture)
27

28. UNCTAD
Trade
and
Environment
Review
(2013)
• “…the
need
for
a
two-­‐track
approach
that
dras<cally
reduces
the
environmental
impact
of
conven<onal
agriculture,
on
the
one
hand,
and
broadens
the
scope
for
agro-­‐ecological
produc<on
methods
on
the
other.”
hhp://unctad.org/en/
Publica<onsLibrary/
ditcted2012d3_en.pdf
28

29. SUSTAINABLE
FOOD
SYSTEMS
PLACE-­‐BASED
–
KEEP
VALUE
IN
LOCAL
ECONOMY
–
FAIR,
JUST,
INCLUSIVE
–
BUILD
REGIONAL
SOCIAL,
KNOWLEDGE
AND
PHYSICAL
CAPACITY
–
ECOLOGICALLY
REGENERATIVE

30. Thank
you
alison.blaypalmer@gmail.com
30