Food Governance durch Qualitätszertifizierungen

in Godeman, Jasmin; Bartelmeß, Tina (Eds.) Handbuch Ernährungskommunikation. Interdisziplinäre Perspektiven im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit (2021)

In diesem Beitrag wird das Potential von Qualitätszertifizierungen zur Förderung eines nachhaltigen oder ethisch verantwortlichen Lebensmitteleinkaufs, sowohl in Bezug auf VerbraucherInnen als auch ... [more ▼]

In diesem Beitrag wird das Potential von Qualitätszertifizierungen zur Förderung eines nachhaltigen oder ethisch verantwortlichen Lebensmitteleinkaufs, sowohl in Bezug auf VerbraucherInnen als auch Akteure des öffentlichen Beschaffungswesens, vorgestellt. Es wird gezeigt, dass Governance-basierte Qualitätszertifizierungen wie Label effiziente Kommunikationsinstrumente für nachhaltigkeitsorientierte Ernährung sein können, indem sie Ernährungskompetenz und nachhaltigeres Einkaufsverhalten bei potentiell widersprüchlichen Interessen fördern, insbesondere, wenn die Zertifizierung den Mehrwert des Produktes transparent aufzeigt und die definierten Nachhaltigkeitskriterien gesetzlich verpflichtend sind. Political food communication may take many forms, including direct recommendations to public institutions and private households (cf. Reckinger/Régnier 2017), or more indirect labelling schemes that certify various types of quality – from sustainable via nutritious to ethical. The underlying governance claims differ in those cases: in the first one, priority is given to analytical, top-down information to procurement actors and to individuals of a given population; in the second one, action is rather taken in the direction of food production and transformation, be it top-down or participatory, with an associated effort to make the communicated guarantees transparent to consumers. In this article, we will analyse in a praxeological perspective the contrasting governance claims that structure a selection of labelling schemes in contemporary Luxembourg: official ones (such as organic produce, among others), voluntary and regional ones, international ones, as well as supermarket brands blurring boundaries and using overlaps of several labels. We will compare the guarantees and transparency that labels tend to offer in the socio-ecological, socioeconomic, sociocultural and socio-political dimensions of food certification, viewed as a potentially enabling or disabling form of food communication. At the same time, we will examine the potential of these aids for individual consumers’ priorities and public procurement actors’ legal framework in selecting foodstuffs with added sustainable or ethical value, asking the question if such certifications are efficient tools of food communication and ultimately of an enhanced food literacy in an arena of potentially conflicting and crowded messages. [less ▲]

Luxembourg 2050 - Prospects for a Regenerative City-Landscape - Report Phase 2

Report (2021)

The resourcefulness of Luxembourg’s food system as put to the test by the Coronavirus lock-down

in Mein, Georg; Pause, Johannes (Eds.) The Ends of Humanities - Volume 2: Self and Society in the Corona Crisis. Perspectives from the Humanities and Social Sciences. (2020)

Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective ... [more ▼]

Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective food supplies become primary concerns. Where does even the wealthiest of EU member States stand when it comes to food sovereignty and specific vulnerabilities, what needs to change and which food policies are needed to facilitate a sustainable food system – both locally and internationally? Combining qualitative, empirical research methods to textual and statistical analysis, as well as transformative research, I focus on key areas of Luxembourg’s food system presenting challenges – specific ones and structural ones intertwined with issues in other countries – and discuss current and planned pathways of optimisation. I will start out with an analysis of agricultural and commercial specificities of a food system with low self-sufficiency rates, linked to meat and dairy specialisations, but also to market accessibility and market structure issues, leading to heavy imports. I will then shed light on pathways currently put into practice by the State, by economic actors, by educational actors and by social movements and coalitions of the willing, advocating ecological, ethical and qualitative production methods. Finally, I will show how the first Food Policy Council at national level that Luxembourg is currently founding is favoring a deliberate shift towards a multi-stakeholder-lead effective food policy. [less ▲]

Stichwort Ernährungsdemokratie. Ein Ernährungsrat auf nationaler Ebene als greifbares Konzept für Luxemburg

in Forum für Politik, Gesellschaft und Kultur in Luxemburg (2020), 408

How resilient is Luxembourg’s food system?

Article for general public (2020)

Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective ... [more ▼]

Moments of crisis like the current one sparked by Covid-19, engage social, economic, cultural and political institutions of a society and stress-test their resourcefulness, while individual and collective food supplies become primary concerns. Where does even the wealthiest of EU member States stand when it comes to food sovereignty and specific vulnerabilities, what needs to change and which food policies are needed to facilitate a sustainable food system – both locally and internationally? Combining qualitative, empirical research methods to textual and statistical analysis, as well as transformative research, I focus on key areas of Luxembourg’s food system presenting challenges – specific ones and structural ones intertwined with issues in other countries – and discuss current and planned pathways of optimisation. I will start out with an analysis of agricultural and commercial specificities of a food system with low self-sufficiency rates, linked to meat and dairy specialisations, but also to market accessibility and market structure issues, leading to heavy imports. I will then shed light on pathways currently put into practice by the State, by economic actors, by educational actors and by social movements and coalitions of the willing, advocating ecological, ethical and qualitative production methods. Finally, I will show how the first Food Policy Council at national level that Luxembourg is currently founding is favoring a deliberate shift towards a multi-stakeholder-lead effective food policy. [less ▲]

Climate SMART Agriculture: How well does the agricultural sector in Luxembourg perform in terms of climate change?

Scientific Conference (2020, May 04)

In Luxembourg, the agricultural sector was responsible for 711.7 Gg CO2-equivalents in 2016, which corresponds to 6.95 % of the total country greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Over 50 % of the farms are ... [more ▼]

In Luxembourg, the agricultural sector was responsible for 711.7 Gg CO2-equivalents in 2016, which corresponds to 6.95 % of the total country greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Over 50 % of the farms are specialist grazing livestock farms. The beef and cattle milk production account globally together for over 60 % of the sector’s global emissions. Thus, the climate impact of the whole agricultural sector in Luxembourg can be significantly lowered by reducing the GHG emissions of the specialist grazing livestock sector. However, beyond farm type, the GHG emissions of a farm are also influenced by other factors, such as management systems and farming practices. To enable a transition towards a more climate-positive agriculture, insights into the sustainability performance in terms of climate change are needed. The aim of this study is to determine the current sustainability performance of the Luxembourgish specialist grazing livestock sector in terms of climate change. The climate impact of the different specialist grazing livestock farm types (OTE (orientation technico-économique) 45 - Specialist dairying; OTE 46 - Specialist cattle - rearing and fattening and OTE 47 - Cattle - dairying, rearing and fattening combined) and of different management systems (conventional or organic) was assessed at farm-level. Furthermore, the relationship between the sustainability performance in terms of climate change and other areas of sustainability is being studied. Farming practices of 60 farms typical for Luxembourg in regard to their share of arable land and permanent grassland (OTE 45: 3 farms; OTE 46: 15; OTE 45: 11; Conventional: 44; Organic: 16) and their respective sustainability implications were assessed in 2019 according to the FAO SAFA Guidelines (Guidelines for the Sustainability Assessment of Food and Agriculture Systems, 2014) using the Sustainability Monitoring and Assessment RouTine (SMART)-Farm Tool (v5.0). Organic farms were highly overrepresented, with 26.7 % in the sample compared to 5 % of all Luxembourgish farms. The data was collected during a farm visit and a 3 h interview with the farm manager. The impact of management system and farm type on the SAFA-goal achievement for the sub-theme Greenhouse Gases (GHG) were studied. The results show that the sustainability performances of the participating farms were moderate to good. Goal achievement for the sub-theme GHG was moderate and did not differ significantly between the three farm types (OTE 45: 53.3 % ±3.9 SD goal achievement; OTE 46: 55.6 % ±7.3 SD; OTE 47: 54.6 % ±6.9 SD). Organic farms showed a significantly higher mean goal achievement for GHG than conventional farms (p-value < 0.001) (organic: 58.3 % ±6.0 SD; conventional: 52.6 % ±4.4 SD). For indicators positively impacting GHG, the organic and the OTE 46 farms had generally higher ratings. Correlations between GHG and the other sub-themes were mainly in the Environmental Integrity dimension, showing that implementing climate-positive farming practices can also improve other ecological aspects. The indicator analysis identified the following linchpins: increase in protein autarky, closing of farming cycles and holistic approach with strategic decision making leading to harmonized actions towards a sustainable and climate positive farming system. [less ▲]

Nous voulons apporter notre soutien sur le fond du débat

Article for general public (2020)

Constructions contestées et contrastées de la notion de terroir. Symbolique Politique, Savoir Scientifique, Typicité Culturale et Culturelle

in Yengué, Louis; Stengel, Kilien (Eds.) Le terroir viticole. Espace et figures de qualité (2020)

Ambivalences in the Governmentality of Alternative Food Networks: convenience, social selectivity and marketability

Presentation (2019, June 26)

Recently, a number of resourceful community-driven initiatives for local food production and retail have arisen in Luxembourg, where low organic agricultural rates are paired with high consumer demands ... [more ▼]

Recently, a number of resourceful community-driven initiatives for local food production and retail have arisen in Luxembourg, where low organic agricultural rates are paired with high consumer demands for organic produce. The main impact that heterodox actors can have seems to be the creation of resourcefulness from innovative niches, not designed to be upscaled but spread by ubiquitous networking. The motivations of actors involved in such social movements, albeit diverse, tend to stem from a stance of care and ethical (self)government, often using community self-organisation-tools. Based on qualitative interviews and participant observation, we expand on four case studies of fruit and vegetable production as well as unpackaged and socially responsible food retail in Luxembourg. One has been established since the 1980s with over 200 employees, partly in social insertion measures, producing and importing organic fruit and vegetables. Since 2014, three significantly smaller initiatives with higher citizen involvement have emerged. These recent initiatives are more radical in their agro-ecological and/or permaculture practices, proposing a political enacting of circular economy precepts. Yet, daily practices stay embedded in social, cultural and economic constraints and in routines, which are built on tacit knowledge and engrained convenience. By analysing ethical entrepreneurship and the governmentality at its core as well as ambivalences and paradoxes within convenience, social selectivity and marketability, this paper touches on interrelations between food policies and the politics of contested claims for, and practices of, social and environmental justice. [less ▲]

Networks and Governance of Local Food Systems. The case of Food Policy Councils

Scientific Conference (2019, June 06)