Manger biologique à l’ère de l’insécurité

Depuis que l’État abandonne peu à peu de nombreux domaines sociaux tout en ayant la main plus lourde en matière de répression, beaucoup de gens adoptent un comportement d’autorégulation pour essayer de répondre à des peurs et à des risques sociétaux plus larges. Le succès croissant des aliments biologiques en Amérique du Nord montre clairement l’arrivée de ce nouveau type de comportement d’autorégulation, mais ne relève pas entièrement de lui. En nous inspirant des concepts soutenant la biopolitique alimentaire, nous établissons des liens entre l’alimentation biologique en tant qu’acte d’autorégulation et un nouveau régime d’État répressif qui met l’accent sur l’alimentation biologique comme partie prenante d’une politique étatique militaire et sociale plus large.With the retreat of the state in many social fields and a heavier hand on the repressive side, many people have developed auto-regulatory behaviour in their attempt to manage broader societal fears and risks. The rise of the practice of eating organic food in North America is an excellent example of this newer type of self-regulatory behaviour. However we suggest that the surge of interest in organic food is not entirely self-regulatory. Drawing upon insights from food bio-politics, we make connections between eating organic as a self-regulatory act and a new repressive state regime that emphasises eating organic as part of a broader state social and military policy

Post COVID 19 and food pathways to sustainable transformation

International audienc

An emerging user-led participatory methodology: Mapping impact pathways of urban food system sustainability innovations

This chapter presents an emerging effort to develop a participatory mapping methodology that will illuminate the pathways through which sustainable urban food systems achieve lasting impact. Carried out in collaboration with Està (Economia e Sostenibilità), the UNESCO Chair in World Food System (at Montpellier SupAgro), CIRAD (French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development) and the LCSFS (Laurier Center for Sustainable Food Systems), this initiative aims to provide an alternative to quantitative tools that lack precision at the local level, and to qualitative approaches holding a narrow focus that may obscure broader systemic dynamics. This URBAL project focuses on innovations in consumer practices, value-chains, and governance by examining 12 case studies in eight cities in the Global South and North

A food politics of the possible? Growing sustainable food systems through networks of knowledge

There is increased recognition of a common suite of global challenges that hamper food system sustainability at the community scale. Food price volatility, shortages of basic commodities, increased global rates of obesity and non-communicable food-related diseases, and land grabbing are among the impediments to socially just, economically robust, ecologically regenerative and politically inclusive food systems. While international political initiatives taken in response to these challenges (e.g. Via Campesina) and the groundswell of local alternatives emerging in response to challenges are well documented, more attention is needed to the analysis of similarities between community approaches to global pressures. While we are not suggesting the application of a template set of good practices, the research reported in this paper point to the benefits of both sharing good practices and enabling communities to adopt good practices that are suited to their place-based capacities. The work also suggests that sharing community-derived good practices can support and reinforce global networks of sustainable community food systems, foster knowledge co-creation and ultimately cement collective action to global pressures. In turn these networks could enhance the sustainability and resilience of community food systems and facilitate wide scale food system transformation

Elimination Method of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA): A Simple Methodological Approach for Assessing Agricultural Sustainability

In the present world context, there is a need to assess the sustainability of agricultural systems. Various methods have been proposed to assess agricultural sustainability. Like in many other fields, Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) has recently been used as a methodological approach for the assessment of agricultural sustainability. In this paper, an attempt is made to apply Elimination, a MCDA method, to an agricultural sustainability assessment, and to investigate its benefits and drawbacks. This article starts by explaining the importance of agricultural sustainability. Common MCDA types are discussed, with a description of the state-of-the-art method for incorporating multi-criteria and reference values for agricultural sustainability assessment. Then, a generic description of the Elimination Method is provided, and its modeling approach is applied to a case study in coastal Bangladesh. An assessment of the results is provided, and the issues that need consideration before applying Elimination to agricultural sustainability, are examined. Whilst having some limitations, the case study shows that it is applicable for agricultural sustainability assessments and for ranking the sustainability of agricultural systems. The assessment is quick compared to other assessment methods and is shown to be helpful for agricultural sustainability assessment. It is a relatively simple and straightforward analytical tool that could be widely and easily applied. However, it is suggested that appropriate care must be taken to ensure the successful use of the Elimination Method during the assessment process.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Canad

Learning from the past to deal with the future: Using different knowledges to ensure food security in the Tsá Tué biosphere reserve (Northwest Territories, Canada)

The community of Délı̨nę, located in the UNESCO Tsá Tué Biosphere Reserve, is experiencing the impacts of climate change on the lands surrounding Great Bear Lake, in Northwest Territories, Canada. These impacts are limiting the community's ability to access the land to support their food system, which depends on harvesting traditional foods. This article details a participatory action research approach, driven by the community, that used on-the-land activities, workshops, community meetings and interviews to develop a community food security action plan to deal with the uncertainties of a changing climate on the food system. Data was analyzed using the Community Capitals Framework (CCF) to describe the complex nature of the community's food system in terms of available or depleting capitals, as well as how the impacts of climate change affect these capitals, and the needs identified by the community to aid in adaptation. For Délı̨nę, the theme of self-sufficiency emerged out of concerns that climate change is negatively impacting supplies from the south and that building and maintaining both social and cultural capital are key to achieving food security in an uncertain future. Learning from the past and sharing Traditional Knowledge1was a key element of food security planning. However, other types of knowledge, such as research and monitoring of the health of the land, and building capacity of the community through training, were important aspects of adaptation planning in the community. This knowledge, in its many forms, may assist the community in determining its own direction for achieving food security, and offers a glimpse into food sovereignty in Northern regions

Power Imbalances, Food Insecurity, and Children’s Rights in Canada

Increasingly, food is provided through an industrial food system that separates people from the source of their food and results in high rates of food insecurity, particularly for the most vulnerable in society. A lack of food is a symptom of a lack of power in a system that privileges free market principles over social justice and the protection of human rights. In Canada, the high rates of food insecurity among Canadian children is a reflection of their lack of power and the disregard of their human rights despite the adoption of the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1991 and ratification of the International Covenant on Social, Economic and Cultural Rights in 1976, which established the right to food for all Canadians. Dueling tensions between human rights and market forces underpin this unacceptable state of affairs in Canada. Gaventa’s ‘power cube’ that describes different facets of power – including spaces, levels and forms – is used to help understand the power imbalances that underlie this injustice. The analysis considers the impact of neo-liberal free market principles on the realization of human rights, and the negative impacts this can have on health and well-being for the most vulnerable in society. Canadian case studies from both community organizations and a novel governance initiative from the energy sector provide examples of how power can be shifted to achieve more inclusive, rights based policy and action. Given increased global pressures towards more open trade markets and national austerity measures that hollow out social supports, Canada provides a cautionary tale for countries in the EU and the US, and for overall approaches to protecting the most vulnerable in society

Growing innovation policy: the case of organic agriculture in Ontario, Canada

A case study of innovation in organic agriculture in Ontario, Canada, illustrates the merits of multiscaled analysis as a tool to identify relevant policy options for the European Union and North America. Policy recommendations that emerged from interviews included the need to: develop and reinforce local networks and associational capacity; address inequities that result from global subsidies; and develop national research funding and standards to support organics. These policy changes would provide production and marketing alternatives, making the sector more resilient. Theoretically, the research highlights the dynamic and interconnected facets of innovation and the need for multiscaled analysis to capture interscale linkages.