Publication details
Quest for sustainable food production: Conceptual framework for studying social and financial metabolism of local food systems
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2015 |
| Type | Article in Proceedings |
| Conference | Proceedings of the 9th International Scientific Conference INPROFORUM: Common challenges - Different solutions - Mutual dialogue |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | http://inproforum.ef.jcu.cz/INP2015 |
| Field | Economy |
| Keywords | Social metabolism; Local Multiplier; Sustainable Food Production; Organic Agriculture |
| Description | The question of how to feed the global population not only sufficiently, but also sustainably has become a significant problem for both academics and activists all around the world. However, there is not any shared methodology how to assess the sustainability of agricultural production. Local food systems (LFS) are often suggested as a more sustainable alternative to the large-scale mechanized mode of agriculture but there are still many gaps in our knowledge of their social, environmental and economic impacts. This paper introduces the concept of social metabolism as a useful tool for assessing the LFS’ sustainability; looking at energy and material stocks and flows of a defined system, it enables one to inspect the functioning of a food system in detail, both on global, national and local scale. Applied to three case studies of Czech and Slovak organic farms, the social metabolism study can provide information on energy and material demands per unit of production, on land-use, labour time and the level of self-sufficiency of the farm system. The data on material and energy flows are suggested to be complemented by a local multiplier, an indicator of local monetary flows related to the farms. Although not providing the final verdict about the farms’ sustainability, the concept of social metabolism provides a very useful framework to structure such a debate. |
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