No abstract

School food programs can improve the nutritional status at community level, and can be a powerful tool to facilitate a transition to sustainable food systems, particularly through their purchasing methods and meal/waste management. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can enable or inhibit transitions to sustainability, due to its capacity to facilitate transformational change and disruption. Thus, AI can have major impacts on achieving the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including those related to food systems. This paper focuses on critically exploring different aspects during the implementation of a software project in US schools that used AI techniques to enable agility and provide healthy food options for schoolchildren. Participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and document analysis were used to inform the case study and uncover the new processes developed using the technology. As a key barrier to the effective management of school food programs and nutrition is the administrative load associated with statutory compliance, this case study demonstrates the difference that AI-powered tools can make in alleviating the weight of administrative processes. An Information and Communication Technology (ICT)-enabled boundary spanning framework is used to extend the case study toward an analysis of the systems, boundaries, relationships and perspectives which starts mapping the areas where the private sector, public institutions and civil society can meet to fast-track sustainable transition activities, particularly in the context of food systems. This article presents some possible approaches to facilitating these activities, inviting policy makers to bridge the gap with businesses and use business agility to support common societal goals to achieve sustainable food systems.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is impacting all aspects of food systems, including production, food processing, distribution, and consumption. AI, if implemented ethically for sustainability, can enhance biodiversity, conserve water and energy resources, provide land-related services, power smart cities, and help mitigate climate change. However, there are significant issues in using AI to transition to sustainable food systems. AI’s own carbon footprint could cancel out any sustainability benefits that it creates. Additionally, the technology could further entrench inequalities between and within countries, and bias against minorities or less powerful groups. This paper draws on findings from a study of the Victorian Farmers’ Markets Association (VFMA) that investigated the complexity of designing AI tools to enhance sustainability and resilience for the benefit of the organisation and its members. Codesign workshops, both synchronous and asynchronous, semi-structured interviews, and design innovation methods led the VFMA to experiment with an AI tool to link sustainable soil practices, nutrient rich produce, and human health. The analysis shows that the codesign process and an agile approach created a co-learning environment where sustainability and ethical questions could be considered iteratively within transdisciplinary engagement. The bottom-up approach developed through this study supports organisations who want to engage with AI while reinforcing fairness, transparency, and sustainability.