Today was the first day of our Contemporary Agrifood Studies Course (PUREFOOD Advanced Scientific Skills Course) which was open to non-PUREFOOD PhD candidates.

For the first day, Carolyn Steel, author of Hungry City was the teacher.   Carolyn Steel shared her expertise on the problems in the food systems from a historical and architectural perspective.

We had a lively discussion which followed a main point of Carolyn’s lecture: ‘Accepting complexity’ of the food system.

• Bifurcation in the food system often leads to polarized and unproductive debates about the future of food systems.  Carolyn suggested that we see the true complexity, and go beyond these dichotomous debates.
• Working with the enemy: to what extent should researchers and nonprofit organisations work with large corporate actors toward sustainability?  Are we doing anything new if we’re working with the corporations?  Carolyn said that ultimately it is a paradox — there is no ideal solution.  But the important thing to examine is: what are the models that we need to move forward?  Carolyn suggested a control for scale – so that supermarkets don’t get so big and powerful that they no longer need to play by the rules.  But the question of ‘How do we deal with Wal-Mart?’ needs to be attacked with a  ’multi-faceted, multi-front’ approach — seeing the complexities of the reality and the several different types of solutions that might address these problems.
• What can encourage systemic changes, other than a ‘crisis’, such as the Havana urban farming (2000) example or the UK Dig for Victory (1940) example?  Carolyn said that in truth we are in crisis, but no one is acting like it’s a crisis.  In reality, we are almost at the tipping point, so the question is ‘what is going to push us over the edge?’

It was a wonderful day with Carolyn Steel and an especially enthusiastic discussion.

Thanks Carolyn for your time!

What further responses are there to the discussion points listed above?  Lets continue the discussion past the classroom and into the blogosphere!

Place to Plate: New Connections in Food Research
2 April 2012
Cardiff University

This is a conference by and for Ph.D. and early-career researchers studying food. It is inter-disciplinary and welcomes participation and contributions from diverse perspectives.

Early-career researchers are invited to share their interpretations of the themes to challenge us to realise new connections between places, disciplines and concepts. Food students are encouraged to inspire their peers to learn from unusual allies and to seek answers in unexpected sources. In the spirit of new connections, the conference will also trial innovative ways of preparing an academic conference and aim to establish an enduring inter-disciplinary and international network in food studies.

Bookings will open in early 2012. In the meantime, you are invited to have your say in how the day will run. Visit http://placetoplate.wordpress.com to suggest ideas for the programme and to find out more. 

Themes
“Food is what connects us all to each other and to the natural world, which makes it an incredibly powerful medium for thinking and acting collaboratively.”
- Carolyn Steel author of Hungry City.

What we eat and where it comes from are fundamental questions in light of today’s global challenges around issues such as health, agriculture, development and sustainability. A sound food system is central to the resilience of society, economy and environment, and, as one of life’s
essentials, food is unique in its power to communicate such concepts to the public. But whilst food is a topic which can touch almost every academic discipline, research is too frequently confined by subject boundaries.

This conference will bring together those studying food, no matter what their backgrounds, to generate unique and enlightening perspectives that can break disciplinary boundaries and forge new relationships both conceptually and personally. It will consider questions such as:

• What does a resilient food system taste like?
• Can food be a key to unlocking transition?
• What is the recipe for a healthy community?
• Is good practice a moveable feast?
• Fair for whom: where is the justice in sustainable food?
• Are we going global, local or glocal? 
• How do we eat: do we understand the socio-cultural issues of food?

And, of course, we invite your participation in defining panel and roundtable themes: this is, after all, a conference for us and by us.

The conference has received funding from Cardiff University Graduate College.

I know we aren’t all lucky enough to be Rural Sociologists, but for those interested in sustainable agriculture, the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS) Congress is an event you shouldn’t miss! 

For the 2011 congress in Chania, Crete, there were 59 presentations inlcuding “food” in the title, 19 involving “agriculture”, and over 20 papers relating to sustainability.  To see the full list of papers, click here.  Click here for all the abstracts.  There were also field trips where participants were guided through rural Crete to see olive groves, wineries, environmental tourist destinations, museums and more! 

The PUREFOOD and FOODLINIKS programs were well represented.  Participants included Petra Derkzen, Gianluca Brunori, Roberta Sonnino, Bettina Bock, Tim Lang (If you were there, and I missed you – please say so in a comment!).  There were also some sustainable food ‘super-stars’ (as I like to call them), including Terry Marsden, Phillip McMichael, and Mike Bell. 

ESRS provided good food with plenty of coffee breaks, pastries, lunch-time buffets, afternoon ice cream (to help with the heat!), and even a  couple of full Greek dinners – all with the customary plentiful wine. 

Have you ever been to ESRS or seen any of these great speakers?  If so, leave a comment and let me know about it!

Also, check out ISRS World Congress of Rural Sociology 2012 in Lisbon, Portugal (http://www.irsa-world.org/).  Submit a paper or organize a working group and I’ll see you there!

The journal Animal Feed Science and Technology just published a “Special Issue: Greenhouse Gases in Animal Agriculture – Finding a Balance between Food and Emissions.” 

I found the link on the Food Climate Research Network (FCRN), which you can find here.

The link to the issue is here.  

The relevant articles include:

• The significance of livestock as a contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions today and in the near future
• Greenhouse gas emission profiles of European livestock sectors
• A review of whole farm systems models of greenhouse gas emissions from beef and dairy cattle production systems
• Benchmarking of greenhouse gas emissions of bovine milk production systems for 38 countries
• Comparison of methane production between C3 and C4 grasses and legumes

I think these articles are useful for any of us who need to reference the severity of GHG emissions associated with the current agricultural system.

If you read any of them, let us know what you think!

Picture Source

Sign up now for a Winter School opportunity with the European Society for Rural Sociology (ESRS).

Here is the website for more information: http://www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be/Default.aspx?alias=www.ilvo.vlaanderen.be/phdwinterschool.

Also, you can download the two-page flyer here.  WinterSchool2012 chania_finaal.

If you’ve been to one of these before, post a comment about it!

Check out the GRIST article about the food system:

http://www.grist.org/food/2011-07-12-why-its-so-hard-to-reform-food-system-explained-in-one-chart

While I agree that greater gender equality will be an amazing first step toward a better society… is food reform really as simple as men picking up the slack?