Abstract
Modern agricultural and food systems have caused immense damage to human health and the environment. To build sustainable food systems for food and nutrition security, this paper argues that we must focus on the three Ds: degrowth, diversity and decentralisation. By reviving a conversation around what we value, we can begin to reframe the extractive relationships between people and the environment that underlie modern food production and consumption systems. This would require us to change what we measure as success in farming and in our lives, as well as reframe the notion of value as going far beyond narrow definitions of productivity and efficiency.
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Notes
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See Obesity and Overweight reports by National Center for Health Statistics (2021) at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/obesity-overweight.htm.
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The concept of food miles or product miles is one way to become conscious of our ecological footprint (Van Passel, 2013). Thanks to refrigeration technologies, the Japanese are able to consume whales which have been fished off the coast of Antarctica, thus, consuming the longest food miles.
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See Odisha Millets Mission. (n.d.). Homepage. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from www.milletsodisha.com and Millet Mission Odisha (2017, October 21) Millet Mission Odisha. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from www.milletmission.wordpress.org.
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See Kassam and Kassam (2021) and Economic Research Service. (2021, August 25). Food availability and consumption. U.S. Department of Agriculture. Retrieved January 17, 2022, from https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food-statistics-charting-the-essentials/food-availability-and-consumption/.
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Kumar, R. (2023). Degrowth, Diversity and Decentralisation: Building Sustainable Food Systems for Food and Nutrition Security. In: Fazli, A., Kundu, A. (eds) Reimagining Prosperity. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-7177-8_10
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