Graduate school of the environment, Centre for alternative technology, CEM 162 Essay

THE ROLE OF COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE IN FUTURE URBAN AND PERI URBAN AREAS:

The links between the model of CSA and future healthy Urban and peri-urban areas

Due to resource depletion (McKinsey, 2013) and climatic changes (IPCC,2014). Mankind is going to face changes in the current systems and patterns of production, transportation and consumption affecting all aspects of our lifestyle.

Urban and peri-urban areas are key players in the generation of greenhouse gases and in strategies to reduce this generation, especially in reducing dependence on carbon-based fuels. (Romero Lankao, 2007)They also concentrate, globally, a large proportion of GDP and also those most at risk from the effects of climate change(Satterthwaite et al., 2007).

Point of interest in Coleridge’s lecture (2014), urban areas has relevant vulnerability regarding lifestyle diseases, traffic, pollution, social isolation and non-communicable diseases. Furthermore in industrialized countries general health approach is based on particular focus to cure rather than to prevention Wanless(2004) with increasing social tensions due to the economic recession(Katsas,20013). Lack of adaptive capacity1 to deal with the need to reduce vulnerability is common, particularly regarding agriculture(Pfeiffer,2007) and a falling energy base can lead to shrinks in the economy, bringing further problems(less services, crime, food security etc.).(Holmgren, 2003)

The question of how to promote increased resilience and enhanced sustainability in urban areas has become a central research topic and policy consideration. (IPCC, 2014)Local economies and movements has gained interest as a less intimidating arena where much needed change is achieved readily (Cox,2014) driving creative adaptation and renewing community spirit and solidarity of urban and peri-urban areas.(Holmgren,2003)Within the localism movement C.S.A. is often heard as a more ecological way to achieve different local benefits, creating synergic situations and addressing multiple issues simultaneously.

ADDICTION TO FOSSIL FUELSCurrent civilization is founded upon abundance of cheap energy derived from hydrocarbons (Pfeiffer,2006). The advent of fossil-fuelled energy (Figure 1) has enabled huge developments in science and technology, bringing massive benefits for our health, education and development(Allen et al.,2013).Nonetheless the peak of abundant fossil fuels (figure2) with increased consumption and relative ecological footprinting(figure3), especially in countries like China or India, define serious issues for mankind’s global prosperity in the 21stcentury.

1 Adaptive capacity: “Inherent capacity of a system (e.g. a city government), population (e.g. low-income community in a city) or individual/household to undertake actions that can help avoid loss and speed recovery from any impact of climate change. Elements of adaptive capacity include knowledge, institutional capacity and financial and technological resources. Low-income populations in a city will tend to have lower adaptive capacity than the rich/high-income population. There is also a wide range among city and national governments in their adaptive capacities, relating to the resources available to them, the information base to guide action, the infrastructure in place and the quality of their institutions and governance systems. “ Source ()

Figure 1: Nowadays’ “energy order”, global primary energy consumption 1850-2000, in Exajoules

Figure 2: Oil and gas production 1930-2050 Tar sands are not considered while shale is into “gas-non conventional; Source ceopalmoil.com

Figure 3: World ecological footprint by component 1961–2003(risen nine-fold) Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are a major part of our ecological footprint. Source: CABE,2008

The WHO2 estimate air pollution’s health impact to 7 million premature deaths annually. Much of this air pollution is caused by the burning of fossil fuels. Physical inactivity, which correlates with car ownership, results in a further 3.2 million premature deaths each year. Policies to improve air quality and increase physical activity3 represent an unprecedented opportunity to improve global public health and tackle climate change simultaneously(GCHA,2014), while less transportation and more (outdoor) activity are the ways forward.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND HEALTH

The impacts on human health and well-being are being felt today,(Figure 4) and are both direct, as through extreme weather events, food and water insecurity; and indirect as economic instability, as a driver of conflict(GHCA,2014) or food prices. Indeed, the protection of health and welfare is one of the central rationales for reducing emissions in Article One of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change(UNFCCC quoted in GCHA,2014)

A great deal of the impacts of global warming will be felt by the poorest, as example low-lying Bangladesh.(IPCC,2014)it’s relevant to underline that those poorest countries have never created those impacts.

2 World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/3 for example, low-carbon energy and active travel policies with bike or outdoor community gardens etc.

Figure 4: Example of direct effects on the European area; Source European environmental agency, 2012

While the threat of climate change has generated a global flood of policy documents and lifestyle recommendations(Lancet,2009), most national governments and international agencies have had little success in supporting successful local development in urban centres.(Satterthwaite et al.,2007)

CHANGE AHEAD: GROWING URBAN POPULATIONUrban population has recently overcome the rural population worldwide(Coleridge,2014). Half of the world’s current population lives in urban centres,4compared to less than 15% in 1900(Grauman,1977). Trends suggest an increase of population (Figure 5,6,7) determining new challenges for resource depletion, health(Figure 8), climatic changes and agriculture, especially in emerging countries(Figure 9).

Figure 5: Worlds’ population by region 1992-2012, total population increases are much greater in West Asia (67% since 1992) and Africa (53%), while the population number in Europe has grown only slightly (4%).Source UNEP,2011

Figure 6: Population growth in the developing world, 1950-2050, in millions. By 2050 more than half of the develpoing world’s population will be urban; Source FAO,2010

4 According to the most recent United Nations statistics, the transition to more than half the world’s population living in urban areas has occurred in 2008. However, it may be that the world became more than half urban some years ago. Many cities under-count their populations, excluding those living in illegal settlements. Many governments deliberately understate their urban populations by classifying most small urban centres as rural – see Satterthwaite (2007), The Transition to a Predominantly Urban World, op. cit.

Figure7: World population projection in billions. Fertility, mortality, migration, economic development, poverty and governance are the main drivers of population growth. Uncertainty abounds, however, for example with respect to migration flows, female education and access to birth

control, fertility rates, access to health care and life expectancy ;Source IIASA, 2007 from EEA,2012

Figure 8- Evolution in human health risks as economies develop, the effects of economic growth in countries like China or India will be heard in

various global balances; Source EEA,2012

Figure 9:Population growth in selected cities, 2000-2025; DIMENSIONS OF URBAN CHANGE. “Many aspects of urban change in recent decades are unprecedented, including not only the world’s level of urbanization and the size of its urban population, but also the number of countries

becoming more urbanized and the size and number of verify large cities”. Megacities of the future are growing fastest in Africa and Asia; Source FAO,2010

INDUSTRIAL AGRICULTURE’S OVERVIEWFor most of human history we adopted sustainable solutions for agriculture (Figure 10). We used muscle power for farm and food hauling. We ate fresh food when it was available, keeping what we could in root cellars or storing it longer by pickling, salting, fermenting, and drying; we cooked and heated with wood fires.(Bomford,2010; Holmgren,2003)We used natural fibres for several uses, oilseeds, medical crops and dye crops to develop our society, health and well-being.

Figure 10: Example of old fashioned type of agriculture supporting community, the Inca’s citadel of Machu Pichu, in Perù, included a residential area next to a zone of farmed terraces; Source FAO,2010

Technological breakthrough as new pesticides(derived from oil) and fertilizers(derived from natural gas) or hydrocarbon-fuelled irrigation in the 50’ and 60’ allowed the continuing of marginal and depleted lands(Pfeiffer,2007). This transformation is known as “green revolution” and it’s the result of agriculture’s industrialization, following a linear pattern (figure 11). According to Katsas(2013) and Pfeiffer(2007) the further globalization of production during the 80’, 90’, and the new millennium brought strong decrease in localized agriculture in favour of intensive techniques(Figure12,13).

Figure 11: Linear economy, involves traditionally waste and fossil fuels. Source Ellen Mc Arthur foundation

Figure 12,13: Largely helped by chemicals and industrial machineries, agriculture is facing big challenges in terms of sustainability Source: google images

THE INTERLOCKING FORCES OF INDUSTRIAL FARMING AND AGRIBUSINESS CONSOLIDATION ARE CHANGING FARMING CULTURE IN EUROPE.

The number of farms in the European Union has felt from 7.4 million in 1995 to 6.7 million in 2000(F&WE,no date).Millions of farming jobs have been lost across the continent

The main beneficiaries of nowadays’ agro-industrial model(Figure 14) are multinational crops processors and marketers5 which often convert raw materials from factory farms into mass-produced processed foods or own long supply chains to “fuel”. Meanwhile rural economies, environmental protection, food quality, and animal welfare conditions suffer(Katsas,2013).

One of the major problems is problem is the CAP6. In recent years it has been skewed to reward industrial operations at the expense of small farms. In 2005, 85 percent of subsidies went to the largest 18 percent of farms(F&WE,no date).

Figure 14- Agro-food system, classical linear model, where in each step waste occur; between each step time and space are different (long time from growing to consuming, lot of waste); Source: Morin X.,2001 adapted by the author

Given the embedded energy in the production, consumption, and distribution of food, energy savings from reducing food waste are potentially large. For example, roughly 17 percent of all energy used in the United States is linked to the production, distribution, and consumption of food (Cuellar, Webber,2010).

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CHEMICALS AND WATER TRENDSThe environmental danger of the globalization and industrialization of Agriculture7 range from the impacts from the creation of mega farms, the use of chemical fertilizers and bioengineered pesticides to the tons of waste created8.As example, the amount of cereal crops(Figure 15) is only marginally linked to the total area under cultivation since the increase is due to intensification, with fertilizers playing a major role(UNEP 2011).

. Figure 15-Higher agricultural yields depend heavily on the use of fertilizers, especially Nitrogen ones Source: UNEP,2011

5 Such as Danone, Kraft, Sara Lee, Monsanto, P&G etc..for the food industry while “synthetic” competitors have vested interests regarding industrial crops (Fibres, Pharmaceuticals,Oil)6 Common Agricultural Policy7 See Mcdonaldization of food, Katsas,20128 According to WRI(World Resources Institute) 50% of all food produced worldwide is thrown away; According to CABE 20% to 40% in UK

ConsumptionExport/import Processing RetailTransportation

restaurantss

institutions

homes

Consumers Transportation

Agricultural production

Feedback ? c

The heavy dependence on machines and materials increases energy usage and leads to the fact that it takes an average of seven to ten calories of input energy9 to produce one calorie of food (Heller and Keoleian 2000, Pimentel and Pimentel 1996).According to Pfeiffer(2007) nowadays “we are eating fossil fuels”.

In particular Nitrogenous fertilizers(Figure 16), the use of which grew by around 1 500 thousand tonnes per year from 1992 to 2012(UNEP,2012), supply plant nutrients and enrich soil fertility, but can lead to eutrophication of inland and marine waters, and increase the release of potent greenhouse gases10, such as N2O and loss of soil fertility11 when the N contribution(figure 17) is altered.

Figure 16: Use of fertilizer and total reactive nitrogen inputs on agricultural land; Source: EEA, 2012

Figure 17: N cycle, also manures are rich in nitrogenous compounds but a good practice of nitrogen plant and bacteria-fixing can represent a way ahead of chemical fertilizers. ; Source: adapted from Ritter, 2006 from in EEA ,2012

While increasing irrigation infrastructure can raise crop yields, it puts further pressure on freshwater availability; irrigation accounts for approximately 70% of total freshwater withdrawals worldwide (UNESCO 2001) and is seen as one of the principal factors in an increasing state of water scarcity. Nonetheless areas equipped for irrigation have

9 i.e. mostly fossil fuels10 Nitrogen pollution affects the atmosphere by depleting stratospheric ozone. 11 The current ground-level ozone concentrations in industrialised regions of North America, Europe and Asia can reduce yields of staple crops by as much as 10–20 %(EEA,2011)

expanded steadily, 21% since 1992(Figure 18). UNEP(2011) illustrates that there is adequate potential for expanding irrigation to help meet production needs for a growing population.

Figure 18: Total area equipped for irrigation; Water consumption is becoming a global issue in terms of ‘embodied’ water in goods and food while droughts, floods and population’s water usage will modify this map in the future; Source UNEP 2011

RE-LOCALISATION AND RE-RURALIZATION AS SOLUTIONS FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE HEALTHY URBAN AND PERI-URBAN AREASPressures on the ‘planetary boundaries’ are driven by a combination of population growth, increased consumption and environmentally damaging production systems (Rockström and Klum, 2012).(Figure 19)

Figure 19: Diagram showing the planetary boundaries, divided into sections representing those which have commonroots of climate change and of land use. The grey circle represents the ‘safe operating space’ for humanity. Source EEA,2012 Adapted from

Rockström et al. (2009).

Pfeiffer(2007) suggests a possible answer by relocalizing agriculture, through the development of grassroots movements. Synergies can be also encouraged where land-use management supports rural livelihoods and protects ecosystem services therefore enabling great varieties of possibilities.According to Hess(2012) Localists12 movements are mobilizations to support locally owned, independent organizations13 as local farms; community gardens, and food businesses; and local public enterprises such as municipal electricity generation or environmental stewardship groups.

There are limits to what community action can do. In urban areas, communities may build and maintain local water sources, as toilets and washing facilities or construct rainwater harvesting systems but they can’t provide the network infrastructure(IPCC,2014). Local agriculture have physical and economic limit to, as even filling all urban 12 The boundaries of what is local are themselves defined locally, but generally the word refers to a city, metropolitan area or rural region.13 The definition include also non-profit, privately held businesses; cooperatives and credit unions, local non-profit organizations; community media and community finance.

usable lots would difficulty satisfy a metropolis’s needs(Cox,2014) with lack of organization is ma major limit for peri-urban areas.

Although Cox(2014) point out that often “politics in localisms don’t go far enough”, since it’s “challenging the effects of capitalism rather than the causes”, if few embraced such new challenges at the moment we would be far more Capacity building14-less in worse case and business as usual scenarios.15

Sharzer’s book no local (2013) similarly argues localism is more an “utopian ideology” rather than a political framework since “they never explain how small businesses can defeat giant corporations”. Also Cox(2014) states that most of Localists are implementing reforms within the consumer-capitalist society.For instance, local consumption was blossomed across the U.S. while the largest grocery chains increased their shared of the retail market from a disturbing 22% in 1998 to an alarming 58% in 2010(Cox,2014).

COMMUNITY SUPPORTED AGRICULTURE (CSA) FOR BOTH FOOD AND NON-FOODC.S.A. is partnerships of mutual commitment (Table 1) between local producers and a community of supporters, providing a direct link. (Hess,2012) Supporters cover a farm’s yearly operating budget by purchasing a share of the season’s harvest and in some cases they assist with the farm work. (URGNECI,2014) In return, the farm could provide, to the best of its ability, a healthy supply of seasonal produce and an environment to spend time in, meeting people or even participating. The logic aim should be towards organic production but this is not discussed as biodynamic and biologic currents are appealing as well.

The four fundamental ideas of CSA (Urgenci,2014)

Partnership Characterised by a mutual commitment to supply (by the peasants) and up-take (by the consumers) of the agricultural products produced.

It’s Local This means promoting local exchange. Local Solidarity-based Partnership between Producers and Consumers are part of an active approach to relocalizing the economy.

Means Solidarity

Partnerships are based on solidarity between actors and involves: a) Sharing both the risks and the benefits of healthy production that is adapted to the natural rhythm of the seasons and is respectful of the environment, natural and cultural heritage and health; b) Paying a sufficient fair price up-front to enable peasants and their families to live in a dignified manner.

The producer/consumer tandemBased on direct person-to-person contact and trust, with no intermediaries or hierarchy and no subordination.

Table 1: The four pillar of C.S.A, Source URGENCI (2014)

The scheme (Figure 20) is largely adopted for food but the concept can be applied also the non-food crops, to create more resilient systems and environmentally sound communities in terms of productions and consumption.In this case, processing of the raw materials becomes an issue as example in the non-food crops’ products.Alongside CSA there are other short supply chain models, the most prominent ones are box schemes, cooperatives (COOPS) and farmers markets, with the latter more marketing-oriented and the cooperatives calling more at the direct involvement of the production.

14 Capacity building is the development of knowledge, skills, commitment, structures, systems and leadership to enable effective health promotion. It involves actions to improve health at three levels: the advancement of knowledge and skills among practitioners; the expansion of support and infrastructure for health promotion in organizations, and; the development of cohesiveness and partnerships for health in communities. Reference: Modified definition (Skinner, 1997; Hawe et al., 2000; Catford, 2005).15 At the moment lot of knowledge and know how is getting lost with the 2,3 generations.

Agricultural production

C.S.A.

Consumption

homesrestaurant

s

Consumers transportationTransportation

Feedback

Figure 20- Disintermediation possible with C.S.A.; Source: Morin X., 2001 adapted by the author

C.S.A. AS NATURE AND HEALTH DILEMMA

While Ideological and political controversies surround the question of whether the individual or the broader society should be held responsible for personal health behaviours(Minkler M.,1999), there is strong evidence for the social benefits of green spaces and nature16. Similarly, if properly chosen, actions to combat climate change, fossil fuel depletion and un-sustainable methods of agriculture can lead also to improvements in health.Minkler (1999) resumes that both have strong argument but a balanced responsibility is the correct way forward adding that ecological approaches to health provides a helpful conceptual framework for action, systematically integrating this balanced perspective.

Results from Wakefield(2007) shows that a possible form of C.S.A., community gardens, were perceived to provide numerous direct health benefits, including improved access to food, improved nutrition, increased physical activity and improved mental health. Similar initiatives aim at promoting social health and community cohesion.

These benefits were set against a backdrop of insecure land tenure and access, bureaucratic resistance, concerns about soil contamination and a lack of awareness and understanding by community members and decision-makers(Wakefield et al.,2007).Successful urban and peri-urban C.S.A. could be said to also benefit indirectly the nutritional health of a community by providing income and employment, affecting the ability to achieve a healthy life or even providing outdoor activity and learning opportunities.

Conclusions Endless economic growth and exploitation of the earth’s resources and populations are affecting mankind, and new ways to improve the staus-quo are on their paths.

The linear model of intensive, industrial agriculture is being strongly questioned by Localists movements and several issues exist.

Even if big differences between industrialized countries or emerging economies will exists, the linkages between future urban and peri-urban areas, energy and agriculture for both food and non-food crops is going to become increasingly important. In particular, short and more environmentally sound supply chains are logic and timely solutions. These forms of agriculture foster and encourage a future of healthy people, and healthier consumption.

C.S.A. schemes can increase resilience and are source of local enhancing opportunities, including health and wider community issues. Food and non-food productions can be managed by the hands of farmers and groups of people, away from corporate and big industries control, reducing pollution from transportation and chemicals and creating physical activity possibilities.

”we are talking about sovereignty, about having land and water rights” HM Government (2010)

Limitations and further researchThe depth of the causes-effects analysis of modern agriculture’s failures is an initial limitation of the work. Planning is left out the scope, behavioural choices like diets or consumption are also outside, as well as socio-political issues.

Furthermore soil consumption, land use change and policies can affect the balance. Biodiversity and its relationship with C.S.A. haven’t been analysed; the debate around organic forms of agriculture also represent a key topic.

Benefits and barriers need to be researched intensively, and carbon absorption potentials by plants is a major research point, while agronomics, DIY know-how and communication campaigns can readily kick-start short supply chains as C.S.A.

The research and visibility of case studies is a relevant direction to analyse with business planning and feasibility studies representing an essential sector to explore in depth, tailoring it to the local situations.

16 As example the White Paper, Healthy Lives, Healthy People: Our strategy for public health in England, pg. 62 recognises that the quality of the environment, including the availability of green space and the influence of poor air quality and noise, affects people’s health and wellbeing.

Health impacts should also be studied by professionals and effects on C.S.A.’s participants can be a main help to the movements. How to lower running costs and increase yields is also a huge factor and should be researched.

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