Exploring food system assessments as a contribution to sustainability and equity: a case study of the Thunder Bay + area food strategy community food system report card

Abstract

The corporate food regime has contributed to a number of negative outcomes that include land, water, and ecosystem degradation; human health concerns; marginalization of smallholder farmers and urban agriculture producers; and negative social impacts on their livelihoods, particularly in the context of climate change. As a response, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have emerged, attempting to transform the food system. One of the primary alternative food system discourses questioning the limitations of dominant agri-food system practices has been focused on the concept of sustainability. Sustainability is a contested concept and has different interpretations depending on one’s political and ideological perspective. As a result, sustainable food system assessments have been used to analyze the way that sustainability might be an alternative to the corporate food system and assess progress toward stated sustainability goals. The outcomes of a sustainable food system assessment are notably influenced by the selection of a sustainability framework, which brings particular approaches and specified measurement metrics into play. Many food system assessments, however, neglect to identify their underlying assumptions and motivations for change. This research explores the use of sustainable food system assessments and their potential contributions and impacts. Three interconnected aspects influencing outcomes of assessments were identified in the literature, including food system governance, sustainability frameworks, and choice of indicators. [...]