What is a Food System?
Creation, Creation CareA Food System consists of all the activities that produce food to its eventual consumption. This includes growing, processing, preparing, buying, and disposing of food. Each local food system is served by a regional food system, and is ultimately linked to our global food system.
What part of your Food System are you concerned about?
Why is it important to address issues in our Food System?
- “Food system activities make up a large percentage of land use in certain communities and create economic value through growing, distributing, processing, repackaging, retailing, preparing, and warehousing food and agriculture products;
- Access to affordable, safe, fresh, and healthy food is a benefit to residents and communities. There is a direct connection between access to healthy food and rates of diet-related diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity; and
- Integrating sustainable food production into communities builds livable communities, strengthens the local economy, and reduces waste, soil erosion, the use of nonrenewable energy, and pollution of water from runoff.
- It takes a collaboration of residents, private businesses, and other non-profit organizations to build stronger local and regional food systems with local governments to not only proactively prepare communities for climate and energy uncertainties, but to improve public health and environmental quality, and catalyze economic development.”
From Food Systems Planning, Municipal Implementation Tool, accessed from Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security http://www.ruaf.org/ruaf_bieb/upload/3304.pdf
Photo by elias morr on Unsplash.
Original article found at: https://arocha.ca/what-is-a-food-system/
Related Resources
Food System Planning
How can communities in urban centres take garden to table seriously? A resource from the Delaware Regional Valley Regional Planning Commission.
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