Single-use plastic packaging waste is overflowing the Earth’s surface, releasing mi- croplastics that contaminate our food. This poses serious threats and concerns to food safety and security. The project aims to raise public awareness about the issue of microplastic con- tamination in the food system. It will use friendly visual language to help people understand how plastic waste from local recycling stations can end up back on their plates and in their bodies. The outcome of the project is a dining workshop that explores the journey of microplastics into the food system. Visual elements and dishes are used as tools to connect partic- ipants with this complex issue. This enables the audience to learn, think critically and reflect on their daily plastic consumption habits. It inspires them to take responsibility and makea change towards reducing plastic waste. Currently, there is no clear scientific literature on whether there is a potential risk to humans associated with exposure to microplastics in food.

An investigation exploring how individuals can form a greater connection with soil through changing the context in which they engage with it. This project  focuses on inspiring individuals to feel a sense of responsibility and care towards the soil, empowering them to take tangible action to facilitate local small scale change. This report doccuments the investigation of using visual communicastion, sensory engagement and interactive experiences, to nurture individuals to develop a meaningful connection with soil. The project is in collaboration with +change design students as well as an ongoing collaboration with Under Ekarna specifically linked with their Experiment 2000m2 project.

The global food system as a provider of food security faces several sustainability challenges currently. Industrial agriculture practices degrade the environment and are vulnerable to political instabilities due to fossil energy and agriculture input dependency. At the same time, climate change endangers the circumstances of agriculture. This study aimed to explore if local food systems could help sustain food security in Finland. The case local food system is the Uusimaa region. Specifically, it investigates if deploying agroecological principles could help achieve food security. Agroecology is a science and a social movement that utilizes ecosystem simulating farming practices and aims at the social equity of all food system actors. The case study consisted of semi-structured interviews of Uusimaa local food system actors and text analysis of local food-related policy documents. The focus of the interview questions was on the opportunities and challenges of local food to sustain and improve food security and the needed actions to improve food security in general. The text analysis coded the materials according to the agroecological principles. The main target of the result analysis was to identify the current and envisioned state of local food’s role in food security and if implementing agroecological principles might help achieve the expected state. The result showed that the agroecological principles broadly present in the interviewees’ vision were not broadly present in the analyzed policy documents. The results suggest that local food produced with methods closer to agroecological principles could be beneficial to the food security according to the interviewees. On this basis, the agroecological principles would help design the needed food system transformation and related policies.

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Food systems are central to human well-being and development. Nevertheless, they also represent a significant source of environmental and social negative impacts. Additionally, the recent and multiple disruptions, like the coronavirus pandemic and the Ukraine war, have demonstrated that the systems are unprepared to face unforeseen shocks. For these reasons, in recent years, the concept of agroecology has been rediscovered and emphasized. The holistic framework proposed by agroecology is considered an innovative solution as it not only encompasses environmental measures for agriculture but also social and economic ones. Nevertheless, there is no  official or precise definition of the criteria that need to be satisfied for a system to be considered agroecological. This situation increases the risk that mainstream food systems will appropriate the term  without undergoing the fundamental transformational actions that are needed to create sustainable food systems. This thesis applies a  framework with which to test the level of transformation achieved by Campi Aperti, an agroecological system in northern Italy, to understand the extent  of the transformability they propose through the development of ecological farming methods and local farmer’s markets. The assessment is based on three sources of data: a summary of the association documents, semi-structured interviews, and a survey. The association has obtained an optimal score in almost all the indicators of progress towards transformation. Nevertheless, the results have also identified difficulties, challenges, and some areas for improvement, like access to nature, the ability for everyone to participate, and the relationships with the government. The results have highlighted the importance of undergoing an assessment of agroecological systems, not only to understand their transformability potential but also to help in defining the themes that need to be addressed to create a truly innovative agroecological system.

Food is one of the strongest influences affecting both human health and the environment. The food sector is responsible for a substantial share of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, and the demand for more sustainable diets has, therefore, increased. The individual is starting to realize one's own possibility to contribute to a more sustainable society, and people are willing to change their habits to become more sustainable. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to create holistic KPIs for sustainable food systems that encourage improvement. The KPIs aim to measure and quantify sustainability from three perspectives: environmental, economic and social sustainability. The methodology used is a framework consisting of five focus areas aiming to create sustainability indicators. The purpose of the five focus areas are to establish vision, indicator framework, indicator selection, stakeholder participation and lastly communication design and strategy. 13 KPIs have been developed, focusing on electricity usage, water usage, GHG emissions, waste management, well-being and expenses. The target group, aimed to use the KPIs, consists of students living in Sweden, making the KPIs adjusted to a student’s lifestyle. The KPIs range from 0-100 %, and a final sustainability ranking is provided through a weighted average of the 13 indicators. The indicators are presented in a radar chart to increase awareness of the students' everyday habits and aim to encourage improvement to increase the sustainability ranking.

<p>This dissertation is a policy driven ethnography of smallholder and alternative farmers in Indiana that centers food justice and utilizes interdisciplinary frameworks to analyze the adaptive strategies that farmers use to address the specific challenges they face. Through the implementation of adaptive strategies such as regenerative growing practices, the cultivation of community, stewardship of the land, and an emphasis on transparency, the smallholders I worked with over the course of this study negotiate complex agricultural spaces and build the resilience of their farmsteads and the communities they serve. Smallholder and alternative farmers in Indiana are reimagining the agricultural spaces they occupy and driving transformational change of dominant narratives and local food systems. Critiques of conventional agriculture and commodity production are not intended to reify binary perceptions of the agricultural paradigm, but rather to demonstrate that the critical role of smallholder and alternatives farmers should be valued as well. </p> <p> </p> <p>This research draws on four years of ethnographic research, archival sources, and close readings of policy measures and media reports to illuminate the historical context that has positioned smallholders in juxtaposition to large-scale conventional agriculture, and the critical role of smallholder farmers in driving food systems change while centering food justice and community resiliency. The driving research questions for the following essays follow: Why have small scale and alternative farmers chosen to farm (and farm differently)? What specific challenges do they face and how might these challenges be better addressed by existing support systems and new legislation? What can be learned from the alternative narratives and reimagined spaces smallholder farmers engage with? This work joins the growing body of research that challenges agricultural meta-narratives by presenting a counter-narrative of smallholder resilience and the <i>a priori</i> notion that posits agricultural technology as a panacea for everything from world hunger to economics to environmental concerns. </p>

This thesis compares conventional agriculture and Ecological Recycling Agriculture (ERA) in terms of their environmental and socio-economic effects. Environmental effects include greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, but this analysis focuses on nutrient losses. Socio-economic effects include production, costs and benefits at macro, firm and household level. Comparisons were made at regional (Baltic Sea), national (Swedish) and local (community/municipality) level. At regional level, the main challenge is to make agriculture more environmentally friendly and reduce nutrient losses, while maintaining food production. At national level, the challenges are to shift the product mix towards more vegetables and less meat and to address the geographical division between animal and crop production. At local level, the challenge is to achieve sustainable environmental, economic and social rural development. At regional level, the empirical findings were scaled up to create three scenarios. In one scenario, agriculture in Poland and the Baltic States was transformed to resemble the Swedish average structure and resource use, which gave increased nitrogen and phosphorus surplus and substantially increased food production. Two other scenarios in which agriculture in the entire Baltic Sea area converted to ERA gave reductions in nitrogen surplus and eliminated the phosphorus surplus, while food production decreased or remained stable, depending on the strategy chosen. At national level, the environmental effects of different production methods, transport and different food baskets were compared. A household survey was performed to construct an alternative food basket, which was high in vegetables, low in meat and high in locally produced organic food compared with the average Swedish food profile. It was also 24% more expensive. Food basket content was found to be as important as production method in reducing environmental effects. Local production and processing was less important. At local level, an importer and wholesaler of organic fruit and vegetables and a group of environmentally concerned consumers were studied. The business was found to be resilient, i.e. well-suited to adapt to turbulence, and with a history of being innovative. / I den här avhandlingen jämförs konventionellt jordbruk med ekologiskt kretsloppsjordbruk. Jämförelsen görs med avseende på miljöeffekter och socio-ekonomisk påverkan. Av miljöeffekterna är fokus på läckage av växtnäring men utsläpp av växthusgaser samt energianvändning studeras också. Till de socio-ekonomiska effekterna räknas effekter på produktionsvolym samt kostnader och nyttor på såväl samhälls- som företags- och hushållsnivå. Jämförelsen görs på regional (Östersjöområdet), nationell (Sverige) och lokal (Järna/Södertälje kommun) nivå. På regional nivå är den stora utmaningen att omvandla jordbruksproduktionen i miljövänlig riktning och att minska närsaltsbelastningen samtidigt som produktionen hålls uppe. På nationell nivå är en utmaning att ändra produktionssammansättningen mot mer vegetabilier och mindre kött samt att minska den geografiska uppdelningen av djurhållning och spannmål. På lokal nivå är utmaningen att uppnå en hållbar landsbygdsutveckling ur miljömässigt såväl som ekonomiskt och socialt perspektiv. Resultat: på regional nivå beräknas miljöpåverkan och påverkan på livsmedelsproduktion i tre olika scenarier. Enligt ett scenario omvandlar Polen och de baltiska staterna sina jordbrukssektorer efter samma struktur och resursanvändning som ett genomsnittligt svenskt jordbruk. Det resulterar i att överskottet av kväve och fosfor i jordbruket ökar med 58% respektive 18% samtidigt som livsmedelsproduktionen ökar betydligt. Två andra scenarier där jordbruket i hela Östersjöregionen ställer om till ekologiskt kretsloppsjordbruk resulterar i reduktion av kväveöverskottet från jordbruket med 47-61% samt att fosforöverskottet elimineras. I de här scenarierna skulle livsmedelsproduktionen minska eller vara i princip oförändrad beroende på vilken strategi som väljs. På nationell nivå jämförs miljöpåverkan av olika produktionsmetoder, av transporter samt av olika matkassar. En hushållsstudie genomfördes i en grupp miljömedvetna konsumenter för att konstruera en alternativ matkasse. Matkassen innehöll en stor andel grönsaker, en liten andel kött och mycket lokalt och ekologiskt producerad mat jämfört med en genomsnittlig svensk matkasse. Den var även 24% dyrare i inköp. Det visade sig att miljöbelastningen påverkades väl så mycket av matkassens innehåll som av produktionsmetod. Lokal produktion och förädling var inte lika betydelsefullt. På lokal nivå studerades en grossist och importör av ekologiska frukter och grönsaker samt en grupp av miljöengagerade konsumenter (hushållsstudien ovan). Semistrukturerade intervjuer användes för att studera företaget, som visade sig vara resilient, det vill säga väl förberett för att klara turbulens på marknaden. Företaget karaktäriserades av ekonomisk stabilitet och en tradition av att vara innovativt. Ett exempel är Ekolådan, den första helt ekologisk hemleveransen av frukt och grönsaker i Stockholmsområdet. I den studerade regionen (Södertälje kommun) är efterfrågan på ekologiska livsmedel – från såväl hushåll och företag och andra organisationer som kommunen själv – hög jämfört med övriga Sverige. EU:s utvidgning innebär en möjlighet till förändrad förvaltning av Östersjön och jordbrukssektorn. En omställning i stor skala till ekologiskt kretsloppsjordbruk skulle leda till miljöförbättringar. En hållbar förvaltning av Östersjön, något som överenskommits inom ramen för HELCOM, kan inte uppnås samtidigt som jordbruksproduktionen maximeras i länderna runt Östersjön. Jordbruket orsakar betydande externa kostnader. Betalningsviljan för en förbättrad Östersjömiljö är stor vilket motiverar investeringar i ett miljövänligare, hållbart jordbruk. Medlemmarna i HELCOM, däribland Sveriges regering, har såväl ekonomiska som miljömässiga incitament att utnyttja möjligheten som Polens och de baltiska staternas EU-medlemskap innebär. / <p>QC 20160523</p>