This timely book provides a thorough introduction to the inter-relationship of food and the environment. Its primary purpose is to bring to our attention the multiplicity of linkages and interconnections between what we eat and how this impacts on the earth’s resources. Having a better idea of the consequences of our food choices might encourage us to develop more sustainable practices of production and consumption in the decades ahead. Although human societies have, over time, brought under control a large proportion of the earth’s resources for the purpose of food production, we remain subject to the effective functioning of global ecosystem services. The author highlights the vital importance of these services and explains why we should be concerned about the depletion of freshwater resources, soil fertility decline and loss of biological diversity. The book also tackles some of the enormous challenges of our era: climate change – to which the agri-food system is both a major contributor and a vulnerable sector – and the prospect of significantly higher energy prices, arising from the peaking of oil and gas supplies which will reveal how dependent the food system has become upon cheap fossil fuels. Such challenges are likely to have significant implications for the long-term functioning of global supply chains and raise profound questions regarding the nutritional security of the world’s population. Taken together the book argues that a re-examination of the assumptions and practices underpinning the contemporary food system is urgently required. Environment and Food is a highly original, inter-disciplinary and accessible text that will be of interest to students and the wider public genuinely interested in and concerned by the state of the world’s food provisioning system. It is richly illustrated with figures and makes extensive use of boxes to highlight relevant examples.

This book concerns itself with food and hunger issues, primarily in America, but also as America is located in both history and a broader global system today. It focuses on food consumption and production in relation to history, society (including politics and economics), environmental impacts, and some ethical and social justice issues surrounding food. Chapter topics look at: Food as a Human Value and Problem; The Biological Base: Food, Humans, and Well-Being; Food and History: From Hunter-Gatherers to the Preindustrial West; Food and America: Early Industrial Era Transformation; Food in America and the World 1945-2001: Continuing Transformations; Foodways, Eating and Cuisine in America; Food, Population, and Environment; and Food, Ethics, and Social Justice. For individuals who find food issues fascinating because of their relationship to universal and basic human concerns.

Organic agriculture is defined as an environmentally and socially sensitive food supply system. This publication considers the contribution of organic agriculture to ecological health, international markets and local food security. It contains a number of case studies of the practical experiences of small farmers throughout the world (including India, Iran, Thailand, Uganda and Brazil) who have adopted fully integrated food systems, and analyses the prospects for a wider adoption of organic agriculture. The book also discusses the weakness of institutional support for nurturing existing knowledge and exchange in organic agriculture.

estation, habitat destruction and zoonoses; food naming and labelling; and food risk management. Throughout there is reference to an abundance of legislation, treaties, conventions, and case law at domestic, regional, and international levels, with particular attention to European, US, and World Trade Organization law and the work of the FAO. The book clearly demonstrates the necessity for reform of the global system of food production in the direction of a more sustainable and environment-friendly model. In its authoritative discussion of the relations among fields of law that are rarely discussed together – food law and the environment, food law and human rights, food law and animal welfare – this collection of chapters will prove a valuable resource both for officials working in food governance and security and for lawyers and scholars concerned with environmental management, sustainable development, and human rights around the world.

Global environmental change (GEC) represents an immediate and unprecedented threat to the food security of hundreds of millions of people, especially those who depend on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. As this book shows, at the same time, agriculture and related activities also contribute to GEC by, for example, intensifying greenhouse gas emissions and altering the land surface. Responses aimed at adapting to GEC may have negative consequences for food security, just as measures taken to increase food security may exacerbate GEC. The authors show that this complex and dynamic relationship between GEC and food security is also influenced by additional factors; food systems are heavily influenced by socioeconomic conditions, which in turn are affected by multiple processes such as macro-level economic policies, political conflicts and other important drivers. The book provides a major, accessible synthesis of the current state of knowledge and thinking on the relationships between GEC and food security. Most other books addressing the subject concentrate on the links between climate change and agricultural production, and do not extend to an analysis of the wider food system which underpins food security; this book addresses the broader issues, based on a novel food system concept and stressing the need for actions at a regional, rather than just an international or local, level. It reviews new thinking which has emerged over the last decade, analyses research methods for stakeholder engagement and for undertaking studies at the regional level, and looks forward by reviewing a number of emerging 'hot topics' in the food security-GEC debate which help set new agendas for the research community at large. Published with Earth System Science Partnership, GECAFS and SCOPE

Sustainable Food System Assessment provides both practical and theoretical insights about the growing interest in and response to measuring food system sustainability. Bringing together research from the Global North and South, this book shares lessons learned, explores intended and actual project outcomes, and highlights points of conceptual and methodological convergence. Interest in assessing food system sustainability is growing, as evidenced by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact and the importance food systems initiatives have taken in serving as a lever for attaining the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This book opens by looking at the conceptual considerations of food systems indicators, including the place-based dimensions of food systems indicators and how measurements are implicated in sense-making and visioning processes. Chapters in the second part cover operationalizing metrics, including the development of food systems indicator frameworks, degrees of indicator complexities, and practical constraints to assessment. The final part focuses on the outcomes of assessment projects, including impacts on food policy and communities involved, highlighting the importance of building connections between sustainable food systems initiatives. The global coverage and multi-scalar perspectives, including both conceptual and practical aspects, make this a key resource for academics and practitioners across planning, geography, urban studies, food studies, and research methods. It will also be of interest to government officials and those working within NGOs. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://www.routledge.com/Sustainable-Food-System-Assessment-Lessons-from-Global-Practice/Blay-Palmer-Conare-Meter-Battista-Johnston/p/book/9781032083933, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 4.0 license.

This volume takes a unique approach, dealing specifically with issues at the intersection of food and agricultural systems, environmental degradation, and climate change. It fills a gap in the literature on food and environmental justice in the context of global climate change offering a scholarly, yet accessible, analysis of the issues.

All areas of industry are facing increasing pressure from governments and consumers to be more environmentally aware. The food industry is no exception, and an increasing number of companies have made the decision to implement an environmental policy. These organisations will benefit from this book, which has been written to provide a broad but detailed introduction to the topic of environmental issues and their cost implica tions to the food industry. Throughout the text the authors have approached the subject from a practical angle, and have borne in mind the environmental, production or site manager who is grappling with the problem of how to implement such a policy. This book begins by considering the raw materials that are used in the food industry, whether derived from animals, fruit and vegetables, or the products of genetic engineering, as may increasingly be the case in the future. Environmental and cost considerations of food processing opera tions are then examined, encompassing energy conservation and the con trol of air, noise and water pollution; all topics that are uppermost in the priorities of the environmental manager. The finished food product also has an impact on its environment, and so the storage, distribution and packaging of foods, post food factory, is discussed in detail. Finally, the principles involved in management accounting for food industry environ mental issues are highlighted. All the authors of this book are respected experts in their chosen field, each of whom could have written a complete book on their subject.

The Close Linkage between Nutrition and Environment through Biodiversity and Sustainability: Local Foods, Traditional Recipes, and Sustainable Diets” is focused on the close correlation between the potential benefits and “functional role” of food and territory, and it includes papers on the characterization of local foods and traditional recipes as well as on the promotion of traditional dietary patterns and sustainable diets.