Values-Based Territorial Food Networks (VTFN): An overarching concept representing the diverse perspectives of sustainable and ethical transitions of Alternative Food Networks – be they Local Food Systems, Civic Food Networks or Short Food Supply Chains

in Sociologia Ruralis (in press)

This article proposes a comparative literature review of the concepts Local Food Systems (LFS), Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC), Civic Food Networks (CFN) and Alternative Food Networks (AFN) – converging ... [more ▼]

This article proposes a comparative literature review of the concepts Local Food Systems (LFS), Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC), Civic Food Networks (CFN) and Alternative Food Networks (AFN) – converging into the umbrella-term Values-Based Territorial Food Networks (VTFN). Based on the analysis of the specificities and shortcomings in the four concepts, VTFN aims to enhance conceptual clarity. The current coexistence of the concepts conceals their structural and systemic commonalities – relevant for understanding pathways to ethical and sustainable food system transformations. Taking a closer look at unsolved issues and ambiguities of AFNs (subdivided into LFS, SFSC and CFNs), VTFN offers a more overarching, and pragmatic, concept. It qualifies the claimed ‘alternativeness’ of AFNs affirmatively through the dimensions of social, economic, environmental and governance ‘sustainability values’ and through varying constellations of ‘territoriality’. Thus, it fosters integrated scientific dialogue about a conceptual determination of emerging networks of food system transitions worldwide. [less ▲]

Ernährungssouveränität
: Zweckentfremdeter Rat

Article for general public (2021)

The impact of COVID-19 on alternative and local food systems and the potential for the sustainability transition: Insights from 13 countries

in Sustainable Production and Consumption (2021), 28(2021), 591599

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stress test for the agri-food system. While most research has analysed the impact of the pandemic on mainstream food systems, this article examines how alternative ... [more ▼]

The COVID-19 pandemic has been a major stress test for the agri-food system. While most research has analysed the impact of the pandemic on mainstream food systems, this article examines how alternative and local food systems (ALFS) in 13 countries responded in the first months of the crisis. Using pri- mary and secondary data and combining the Multi-Level Perspective with social innovation approaches, we highlight the innovations and adaptations that emerged in ALFS, and how these changes have cre- ated or supported the sustainability transition in production and consumption systems. In particular, we show how the combination of social and technological innovation, greater citizen involvement, and the increased interest of policy-makers and retailers have enabled ALFS to extend their scope and engage new actors in more sustainable practices. Finally, we make recommendations concerning how to support ALFS’ upscaling to embrace the opportunities arising from the crisis and strengthen the sustainability transition [less ▲]

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 ▲]

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)

Reprise de conscience de la saisonnalité via la régionalité.

in Adamiec, Camille; Julien, Marie-Pierre; Régnier, Faustine (Eds.) L’alimentation au fil des saisons. La saisonnalité des pratiques alimentaires (2020)

Basé sur deux études empiriques, conjointement quantitatives et qualitatives, menées dans le contexte de deux projets interdisciplinaires à l’Université du Luxembourg (IDENT – Identités socio-culturelles ... [more ▼]

Basé sur deux études empiriques, conjointement quantitatives et qualitatives, menées dans le contexte de deux projets interdisciplinaires à l’Université du Luxembourg (IDENT – Identités socio-culturelles et politiques identitaires au Luxembourg (2007-2010) et IDENT2 – Processus de régionalisation et constructions identitaires dans des espaces transfrontaliers (2011-2016)), l’argumentaire porte sur l’interface régionalité / saisonnalité tant au Grand-Duché que dans les régions limitrophes. En effet, dans les populations considérées, la régionalité comme qualification alimentaire prime largement sur la saisonnalité, qui, elle, demande une réflexivité et une conscience agricole plus importante. Mais la forme locavore de la notion de régionalité est actuellement une tendance montante et elle favorise, justement, une (re)prise de conscience des contextes géolocalisés de la production alimentaire. Sa diffusion pourrait avoir un impact positif sur la saisonnalité tant dans les représentations que dans les pratiques des consommateurs – en tant que facteur de réduction d’émissions liées au transport, de potentiel d’identification communautaire et de valorisation locale, ainsi que de lutte contre le gaspillage alimentaire. [less ▲]