From Seed to Table: The Challenge of Creating Sustainable Food Systems

Introduction Concern over environmental conditions, health, and social justice is creating a groundswell of interest in the creation of more sustainable food systems. Both ubiquitous and complex, the way in which we produce and consume food is a bellwether for the broader sustainable development movement. We all engage with the food system every day. For many of us, our food choices are made with issues of cost, security of supply, safety, nutrition, social justice and, of course, taste in mind. Although the industrial food system is larger than it has ever been, the intimate nature of our relationship with food makes us skeptical about industrial control of this aspect of our lives more than any other. Across the globe a diverse and vibrant community of farmers, consumers, educators, researchers, activists and chefs are working together to build an alternative to industrial food that is more sustainable.