Towards Precepts of Food System Sustainability - Presentation by Hallie Eakin. This presentation was given as part of the 'Metrics of Sustainable Diets and Food Systems Symposiumco-organized by Bioversity International and CIHEAM-IAMM, November 4th -5th 2014, Agropolis International, Montpellier Visit 'Metrics of Sustainable Diets and Food Systems' Symposium webpage. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/metrics-sustainable-diets-symposium/

1. Towards Precepts of Food System
Sustainability
Hallie Eakin
with: Chris Wharton, John Connors,
Farryl Bertmann, Angela Xiong,
Jared Stoltzfus
Photo: Amy Lerner

2. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
DRIVING
Raworth 2012
PLANETARY CRISIS

3. FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
CREATING
HUMANITY
www.sdsu.edu
Raworth 2012

4. • A collaborative network that integrates sustainable food production,
UC Davis Ag. Sustainability Institute
processing, distribution, consumption and waste management in order to
enhance the environmental, economic and social health of a particular
place
• Consumer-driven, holistic concept .. Respecting carrying capacity of
U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization
natural ecosystems… that do not jeopardize the needs of present and
future generations
• … Strives to meet the needs of a growing population and preserve this
Monsanto Corp.
planet we call home, and to help improve lives everywhere…
• Sustainable food systems are … affordable, accessible, healthier and safe
Walmart
and transparent
• An integrated system of plant and animal production practices having
site-USDA, specific 1990 application Food Agriculture that, satisfy human Conservation food and fiber and needs,
Trade Act
enhance environmental quality, use nonrenewable resources efficiently,
and enhance quality of life

5. The challenge of defining food system
sustainability
Are these definitions equally legitimate? Do they
contradict one another? Are they compatible?
• Differential points of entry: ecological
integrity, resource efficiency, agricultural
production, farmers’ livelihoods, consumer
health and rights, commerce and trade

6. Typology of (Agricultural) Sustainability
Definitions
• Non-substantive
– definitions that are rooted in subjective and
relative interpretations of “what is good”
• Resource efficiency
– focused on enabling persistence of desired activity
our outcome through foreseeable future
• Functional integrity
– maintenance of fundamental system functions in
a dynamic and evolving world
P. Thompson, 2007, “Agricultural Sustainability: What it is, and what it is not” International J. of
Ag. Sustainability. 5: 1-16.

7. Better
?
Worse?
Sustainability is:
“A process and outcome that supports and enhances
human well-being, social equity and environmental
integrity, and the particular system qualities that sustain
these” – Leach et al. 2010
What are those
“system qualities”?

8. Food System Elements
Ericksen, P. (2008). Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change
research. Global Environmental Change, 18(234-245)

9. (Some) Approaches to Food System
Sustainability
• Nutrition
• Community Food Security (CFS)
• International Development
• Land Use Change Science (LULCC)
• Agroecology/ Sustainable Agriculture
• Political-Economy & Globalization

10. What
Sustained?
What
Problem?
How to
Sustain?
Metrics?
Nutrition Human health Over and under
(Individual) HUMAN WELBEING
nutrition
Balanced,
diversified, safe
diet
Morbidity
reduction
Community
Food Sec.
Local control over
food system
Inequities in
access & control
Localization,
participation
Growth in direct
marketing & food
access
Int’l Dvlpmt Food security and
(Pop) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT & HUMAN WELBEING
rural livelihoods
Hunger,
malnutrition and
rural poverty
Improved
commerce,
livelihood
support
Reduced hunger
and food crises
Land
Change
Ecological
services
Agricultural
externalities
Sustainable
intensification
Reduced rate of
land change;
improved
agricultural
efficiency
Agroecolog
y
(Planetary) ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY
(Plot) ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRITY
Farm livelihood
and resource
base
Agricultural
externalities
Low external
input agriculture,
mimics
ecological
processes
Reduced
external input
use, enhanced
resilience to
shocks
Globalizatio
n
Multiple values in
the food economy
Excessive
commodification
Multifunctionality
; alternative
Growth of
alternative food
(Local) GOVERNANCE & JUSTICE
(Global) GOVERNANCE & JUSTICE

12. Six Themes: Diversity
• Enhances response capacities;
diminishes risk
• Conditions innovation
• Conditions equity
BUT:
• Indicators are scale- and
context-dependent
• Diversity entails costs &
tradeoffs

13. Six Themes: Health
• Enables efficient and effective
system function
• Minimizes need for external
intervention
• Enables realization of system
potential
BUT:
• Indicators are unit-specific;
cross-unit compatibility
• Objective measures of health
controversial

14. Six Themes: MODULARITY
• Nested & networked
structure
• Internal integration >
External dependence
• Connected & self-reliant
But
• Cost & efficiency
• Vulnerabilities
Bellm.org

15. Six Themes: TRANSPARENCY
• Essential for
empowerment,
participation
• Facilitates equity,
justice
• Enhances system
feedbacks & learning
BUT
• Institutional context key
?

16. Six Themes: CONGRUENCE
http://www.ganzomag.com/symbolik-bitossi.
html
• Supports “multiple-reinforcing
gains”
• Resource & socially
appropriate technology
and institutions
• Synergy with ecological,
biological & cultural
functions

17. Six Themes: INNOVATION
• Conditions for “creative
disruption in practice &
process”
• Enables learning,
problem-solving,
adaptability
But
• Conditions for safe
experimentation
• Financial requirements

18. Food For Thought
• Can these “themes” be
considered precepts for
food system sustainability?
• If so, can they be applied
consistently and
compatibly across scales,
geographic contexts,
populations?
• What is missing?
Better?
Worse?

19. Sustainability as Normative Process
• “Non-substantive” goal-setting
remains a critical
part of (political)
sustainability process
• However, goals, and
interventions, should
reflect precepts of
functional integrity
Governance
• If these are not the right
Well-being
precepts: Can we identify
them? Eco. Integrity

20. FOOD SYSTEM SUSTAINABILITY
Consumption
Governance
Production
Community
Empowerment
Waste
Distribution Processing
Human Health
Social welfare
Livelihood
security
Agro-ecological
integrity
Ecosystem
services
Multiple values
Food Sovereignty
FOOD
SECURIT
Y
Diversity
Transparency
Innovation Congruence
EMERGENT
OUTCOMES
FOOD
SYSTEM
ACTIVITIES
SUPPORTING
THEMES –
PRECEPTS?
Health
HUMAN WELL-BEING
and
SOCIAL JUSTICE
ENVIRONMENT
AL INTEGRITY
Modularity

21. THANK YOU!
COMMENTS WELCOME: HALLIE.EAKIN@ASU.EDU

22. Where we want to go:
A food system that aims to achieve and maintain universal
food security under uncertain and dynamic social-ecological
conditions, through respecting and supporting the context-specific
cultural values and decision-processes that give
food social meaning and the diversity of ecological
processes necessary for food provisioning today and for
future generations.
Better
?
Worse?
What criteria are
most likely to get us
there?

23. What is the vision?
“Sustainable Development must aim to foster
and preserve socio-ecological systems, from the
family to the global levels, that are dynamic and
adaptable, satisfying, resilient, and therefore
durable” - Gibson 2006

24. What is the vision?
A food system that achieves and maintains
universal food security under uncertain and
dynamic social-ecological conditions, through
respecting and supporting the context-specific
cultural values and decision-processes that give
food social meaning, and the integrity of the
ecological processes necessary for food
provisioning today and for future generations.

25. Better?
What criteria are
most likely to get us
Worse?
there?

26. Sustainability Assessment Principles
(Gibson, 2006)
• Social-ecological integrity
• Livelihood sufficiency and
opportunity
• Inter and intra generational
equity
• Resource maintenance and
efficiency
• Social-ecological civility and
democratic governance
• Precaution and adaptation
• Integration
But are these sufficient for
achieving food system
sustainability?
R. Gibson, 2006, “Sustainability assessment: basic components of a practical approach”
Impact Assessment and Project Appraisal, 24: 170-182