Rethinking food loss and waste to promote sustainable resource use and climate change mitigation in agri-food systems: A review.

The sustainable agri-food system is an important sector recognized for promoting the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals on food security, resource conservation and climate change mitigation. However, the increasing food loss and waste (FLW) along the supply chains has continued to hinder these goals. This study evaluates the trend of FLW research from 1975 to 2022 and how it promotes the achievement of resource and environmental sustainability in agri-food systems. The salient research themes and hotspots that are of interest to researchers were identified. Bibliometric and network analyses were carried out on scholarly research articles from the Scopus database using bibliometrix and VOSviewer. Furthermore, the content analysis was conducted on the selected highly influential articles containing relevant data to understand the role of FLW in promoting sustainable agri-food systems. The results showed disaggregate and unbalanced research distribution on the impacts of FLW among the countries, with China and the United States having the highest contributions. The identified major research themes relating to sustainable agri-food systems are food waste and sustainable systems, food waste management and food waste impact assessment. Moreover, the circular economy was found to be a relatively new approach being explored in agri-food systems to promote FLW reduction and ensure sustainability of resource use. This study highlights the critical role of the impact of FLW in addressing the grand challenge of food security, resource use efficiency and environmental sustainability.

Food access, mobility, and transportation: a survey and key informant interviews of users of non-profit food hubs in the City of Vancouver before and during the COVID-19 crisis.

BACKGROUND: In the City of Vancouver, Canada, non-profit food hubs such as food banks, neighbourhood houses, community centres, and soup kitchens serve communities that face food insecurity. Food that is available yet inaccessible cannot ensure urban food security. This study seeks to highlight food access challenges, especially in terms of mobility and transportation, faced by users of non-profit food hubs in the City of Vancouver before and during the COVID-19 crisis. METHODS: This study involved an online survey (n = 84) and semi-structured follow-up key informant interviews (n = 10) with individuals at least 19 years old who accessed food at a non-profit food hub located in the City of Vancouver more than once before and during the COVID-19 crisis. RESULTS: 88.5% of survey respondents found food obtained from non-profit food hubs to be either very or somewhat important to their household's overall diet. In their journey to access food at non-profit food hubs in the City of Vancouver, many survey respondents face barriers such as transportation distance/time, transportation inconveniences/reliability/accessibility, transportation costs, line-ups at non-profit food hubs, and schedules of non-profit food hubs. Comments from interview participants corroborate these barriers. CONCLUSIONS: Drawing from the findings, this study recommends that non-profit food hubs maintain a food delivery option and that the local transportation authority provides convenient and reliable paratransit service. Furthermore, this study recommends that the provincial government considers subsidizing transit passes for low-income households, that the provincial and/or federal governments consider bolstering existing government assistance programs, and that the federal government considers implementing a universal basic income. This study emphasizes how the current two-tier food system perpetuates stigma and harms the well-being of marginalized populations in the City of Vancouver in their journey to obtain food.

A Citizen Science and Photovoice Approach to Food Asset Mapping and Food System Planning.

Food asset mapping conducted by planners and policymakers usually consists of an online map identifying the locations of food-related sites in cities. However, food asset mapping may be limited in its consideration for ecological and cultural assets critical for community food security. Furthermore, what are considered "assets" may not reflect the everyday lived experiences of marginalized communities. This study applied a "citizen science" photovoice food asset mapping involving diverse participants in the City of Vancouver. In applying a citizen science photovoice approach, this study surfaced "hidden" contexts, food assets, and stories to integrate diverse community perspectives in food system planning.

El mapeo de activos alimentarios realizado por planificadores y formuladores de políticas generalmente consiste en un mapa en línea que identifica las ubicaciones de los sitios relacionados con los alimentos en las ciudades. Sin embargo, el mapeo de activos alimentarios puede estar limitado en su consideración de activos ecológicos y culturales críticos para la seguridad alimentaria de la comunidad. Además, lo que se considera "activos" puede no reflejar las experiencias cotidianas de las comunidades marginadas. Este estudio aplicó un mapeo de activos de alimentos de fotovoz de "ciencia ciudadana" que involucró a diversos participantes en la ciudad de Vancouver. Al aplicar un enfoque de fotovoz de ciencia ciudadana, este estudio reveló contextos "ocultos," activos alimentarios y historias para integrar diversas perspectivas comunitarias en la planificación del sistema alimentario.

Research priorities for global food security under extreme events.

Extreme events, such as those caused by climate change, economic or geopolitical shocks, and pest or disease epidemics, threaten global food security. The complexity of causation, as well as the myriad ways that an event, or a sequence of events, creates cascading and systemic impacts, poses significant challenges to food systems research and policy alike. To identify priority food security risks and research opportunities, we asked experts from a range of fields and geographies to describe key threats to global food security over the next two decades and to suggest key research questions and gaps on this topic. Here, we present a prioritization of threats to global food security from extreme events, as well as emerging research questions that highlight the conceptual and practical challenges that exist in designing, adopting, and governing resilient food systems. We hope that these findings help in directing research funding and resources toward food system transformations needed to help society tackle major food system risks and food insecurity under extreme events.