Decentralized food systems and eating in localities: a multi-scale approach

Abstract

This article describes a systemic approach to analyzing issues related to food and eating, starting with a review of the different meanings and uses of the notions of food systems and agri-food chains. A systemic, multi-scale approach is developed to support the proposed notion of decentralized food systems in an attempt to account for the complementarities, conflicts, and hybridisms that result from the coexistence of distinct food systems in terms of modes of production and distribution, flows of goods, and the shaping of eating habits. Special attention is paid to localities and respective territories as analytical spheres, with the introduction of empirical evidence from two studies conducted in the Brazilian localities of Juazeiro (Bahia) and Chapecó (Santa Catarina).

Food Systems and Access to Healthy Food in an Amazonian Context

“…We apply the concept of decentralised food systems (i.e., how food is produced, circulated, and consumed in localities) as an intersection with dynamics at subnational (local, territorial), national, or international levels. [21]. Therefore, the concepts of territory and locality are the base of the socio-spatial reference of the analysis.…”

“…The reduction in deforestation that began in 2006 was interrupted when the federal government assumed a new direction in 2016, and a far-right administration took office in 2019. This development resulted in an alarming resumption of deforestation and an upsurge in violence associated with conflicts over land and illegal mining, which was not only done openly but also grew unchecked [12,21]. Growing food insecurity since 2017/18, worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, has reached an alarming 25.7% in the Northern states of Brazil and 30% in the state of Pará, which is twice the national average [3].…”

Sustainability, justice and equity in food systems: Ideas and proposals in dispute in Brazil

“…The specific theoretical framework underlying this procedure is provided by the conception of justice articulated by Fraser and Honneth (2003) and a multi-scale approach to food systems (Maluf, 2021) that formed the basis for the research questions. These lead us to assess how and to what extent narratives consider the three dimensions of justice, namely distributive, recognitive and processual justice on various scales, as well as food system transition processes envisioned with regard to the soy-meat complex.…”

“…The specific goals of this study are to (a) identify key actors and respective propositions related to promoting transformations in food systems 1 at different scales, with a focus on distributive, procedural and recognition injustices, (b) characterize distinct discursive repertoires addressing sustainability, climate change and food systems in order to verify whether and how they account for equity and justice issues, and (c) point out the private strategies and public policy proposals mentioned in these repertoires and to what extent they drive or impede actions aimed at just transitions in food systems at various scales. A multi-scale approach to food systems is needed to consider interconnected processes on different scales that relate to manifestations of inequities and injustice which are especially visible at the territorial level (Maluf, 2021). Special attention is given to the powerful actors within the soy-meat complex in Brazil.…”

Movimentos sociais, políticas públicas de alimentação e nutrição e acesso ao direito humano a alimentação adequada no contexto da pandemia de covid-19: um estudo no município de São Paulo

“…Por fim, pode-se pensar em sistemas alimentares no plano local, que é onde há a circulação e acesso propriamente aos alimentos (MALUF, 2021(MALUF, , 2022. A abordagem em várias escalas dos sistemas alimentares e a noção de sistemas alimentares descentralizados se estendem a territórios e localidades para capturar atores sociais e as políticas envolvidas na disponibilidade e acesso a alimentos e alimentação, e como os hábitos alimentares são moldados dentro desses territórios (MALUF, 2022).…”