Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-ndw9j Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:42:14.740Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Transforming Food Systems Through Food Sovereignty: An Australian Urban Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2015

Federico Davila  and
Robert Dyball
Federico Davila*
Affiliation:
Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
Robert Dyball
Affiliation:
Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
*
Address for correspondence: Federico Davila, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University, Building 141, Linnaeus Way, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia. Email: federico.davila@anu.edu.au
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article draws on La Via Campesina's definition of food sovereignty and its potential for reconceptualising food as a basic human right within the dominant Australian food discourse. We argue that the educative value that emerges from urban food production in Australia stems from the action of growing food and its capacity to transform individuals’ social and environmental concerns over food systems. Community participation in urban food production can promote a learning process that generates political understanding and concerns over food systems. We use the education theories of transformative learning and critical consciousness to discuss how Australian urban food production systems can create this social and environmental support for alternative food systems. By having control over food production practices and building collective understandings of how food choices impact global food systems, elements of food sovereignty can develop in an Australian urban context.

Keywords

food sovereigntytransformative learningcritical consciousnessLa Via Campesina
Type
Feature Articles
Information
Australian Journal of Environmental Education , Volume 31 , Special Issue 1: Putting Food on the Table , July 2015 , pp. 34 - 45
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altieri, M.A. (2009). Agroecology, small farms and food sovereignty. Monthly Review, 61, 102–113.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altieri, M., Nicholls, C., & Funes, F. (Eds.). (2012). The scaling up of agroecology: Spreading the hope for food sovereignty and resiliency. Sociedad Cientifica de Agricultura Latino (SOCLA). Retrieved May 15, 2012, from agroeco.org/socla/archivospdf/Rio20.pdfGoogle Scholar
Altieri, M., & Toledo, V. M. (2011). The agroecological revolution in Latin America: Rescuing nature, ensuring food sovereignty and empowering peasants. Journal of Peasant Studies, 38, 587–612.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Australian Food Sovereignty Alliance. (2013). The people's food plan. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Barosh, L., Friel, S., Engelhardt, K., & Chan, L. (2014). The cost of a healthy and sustainable diet: Who can afford it? Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 38, 7–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Block, K., Gibbs, L., Staiger, P. K., Gold, L., Johnson, B., Macfarlane, S., . . . Townsend, M. (2012). Growing community: The impact of the Stephanie Alexander kitchen garden program on the social and learning environment in primary schools. Health Education & Behavior, 39, 419–432. doi:10.1177/1090198111422937CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Burton, P., Lyons, K., Richards, C., Amati, M., Rose, N., Desfours, L., . . . Barclay, R. (2013). Urban food security, urban resilience and climate change. Southport, Australia: National Climate Change Adaptation Research Facility.Google Scholar
Carney, M. (2011). ‘Food security’ and ‘food sovereignty’: What frameworks are best suited fo social quity in food systems? Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development, 2, 71–87.Google Scholar
Commonwealth of Australia. (2014). Agricultural Competitiveness Green Paper. Canberra, Australia: Author. Retrieved from https://agriculturalcompetitiveness.dpmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/green_paper.pdfGoogle Scholar
Deutsh, L., Dyball, R., & Steffen, W. (2013). Feeding cities: Food security and ecosystem support in an urbanizing world. Dordrecht: Springer.Google Scholar
Dibden, J., Potter, C., & Cocklin, C. (2009). Contesting the neoliberal project for agriculture: Productivist and multifunctional trajectories in the European Union and Australia. Journal of Rural Studies, 25, 299–308.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, J. (2011). Diverse food economies or multi-variant capitalism: The community dynamic shaping contemporary food systems. Community Development Journal, 46, 120–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, J., Omwega, A., Friel, S., Burns, C., Donati, K., & Carlisle, R. (2007). The health equity dimensions of urban food systems. Journal of Urban Health, 84, 118–129.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dobson, A. (2003). Ctizenship and the environment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edwards, F., & Mercer, D. (2010). Meals in Metropolis: Mapping the urban foodscape in Melbourne, Australia. Local Environment, 15, 153–168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ericksen, P. (2008). Conceptualizing food systems for global environmental change research. Global Environmental Change, 18, 234–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Falvey, L. (2010). Small farmers secure food: Survival food security, the world's kitchen and the critical role of small farmers. Songkhla, Thailand: Thaksin University Book Center in association with the Institute for International Development Australia.Google Scholar
Fischer, J., Dyball, R., Fazey, I., Gross, C., Dovers, S., Ehrlich, P., . . . Borden, R. (2012). Human behavior and sustainability. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10, 153–160.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Freire, P. (2013). Education for critical consciousness. London: Bloomsbury.Google Scholar
Gliessman, S. (2007). Agroecology: The ecology of sustainable food systems. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press.Google Scholar
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). (2012). The state of food insecurity in the world 2012. Rome: Author.Google Scholar
Gliessman, S., & Rosemeyer, M. (Eds.). (2010). The converstions to sustainable agriculture: Principles, processes and practices. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis Group.Google Scholar
Hansen, Y. (2012). Growing community: Community gardens as a local practice of food sovereignty. In Wittman, H., Desmarais, A. A., & Wiebe, N. (Eds.), Food sovereignty in Canada: Creating just and sustainable food systems. Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood.Google Scholar
Ingram, J., Ericksen, P., & Liverman, D. (2010). Food security and global environmental change. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
Jarosz, L. (2011). Defining world hunger: Scale and neoliberal ideology in international food security policy discourse. Food, Culture and Society: An International Journal of Multidisciplinary Research, 14, 117–139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, J. (2010). Food Connect: Thinking inside the box for just and sustainable food. Chain Reaction, 109 (20).Google Scholar
Kirwan, J., & Maye, D. (2013). Food security framings within the UK and the integration of local food systems. Journal of Rural Studies, 29, 91–100.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kneafsey, M., Dowler, E., Lambie-Mumford, H., Inman, A., & Collier, R. (2013). Consumers and food security: Uncertain or empowered? Journal of Rural Studies, 29, 101–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, T. (2010). Crisis? What crisis? The normality of the current food crisis. Journal of Agrarian Change, 10, 87–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lang, T., & Heasman, M. (2004). Food wars: The global battle for mouths, minds and markets. London: Earthscan.Google Scholar
Larder, N., Lyons, K., & Woolcock, G. (2014). Enacting food sovereignty: Values and meanings in the act of domestic food production in urban Australia. Local Environment, 19, 56–76.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrence, G., Richards, C., & Lyons, K. (2013). Food security in Australia in an era of neoliberalism, productivism and climate change. Journal of Rural Studies, 29, 30–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, R. (2007). Food security and food sovereignty (Discussion Paper Series 11). Newcastle upon Tyne, UK: Center for Rural Economy, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.Google Scholar
Lee, R. (2012). The politics of international agri-food policy: Discourses of trade-oriented food security and food sovereignty. Environmental Politics, 1–19.Google Scholar
Lyons, K., Richards, C., Desfours, L., & Amati, M. (2013). Food in the city: Urban food movements and the (re)-imagining of urban spaces. Australian Planner, 50, 157–163.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McIntyre, B.D., Herren, H.R., Wakhungu, J., & Watson, R.T. (Eds.). (2009). Agriculture at a crossroads. Washington DC: International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD).Google Scholar
Martinez-Torres, M. E., & Rosset, P. M. (2010). La Via Campesina: The birth and evolution of a transnational social movement. The Journal of Peasant Studies, 37, 149–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mason, D., & Knowd, I. (2010). The emergence of urban agriculture: Sydney, Australia. International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability, 8, 62–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mezirow, J. (1995). Transformation theory of adult learning. In Welton, M.R. (Ed.), In defense of the lifeworld: Critical perspectives on adult learning. New York: State University of New York Press.Google Scholar
Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions for adult and continuing education, 74, 5–11.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Patel, R. (2009). Food Sovereignty. Journal of Peasant Studies, 36, 663–706.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearson, C., & Dyball, R. (2014). City food security. In Pearson, L., Newton, P., & Roberts, P. (Eds.), Resilient sustainable cities: A future. New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pialligo Garden Plots. (2013). Why Pialligo garden plots? Retrieved from http://www.pialligogardenlots.com.au/why-pialligo-garden-lots.htmlGoogle Scholar
Pimbert, M. (2009). Towards food sovereignty. Gatekeeper: IIED.Google Scholar
Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council (PMSEIC). (2010). Australia and food security in a changing world. Canberra, Australia: Author.Google Scholar
Porter, J., Dyball, R., Dumaresq, D., Deutsch, L., & Matsuda, H. (2013). Feeding capitals: Urban food security and self-provisioning in Canberra, Copenhagen and Tokyo. Global Food Security. doi.org/10.1016/j.gfs.2013.09.001Google Scholar
Pudup, M.B. (2008). It takes a garden: Cultivating citizen-subjects in organized garden projects. Geoforum, 39, 1228–1240.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rose, N. (2012). The draft National Food Plan: Putting corporate hunger first. The Conversation. Retrieved July 5, 2013, from https://theconversation.com/the-draft-national-food-plan-putting-corporate-hunger-first-8342Google Scholar
Rose, N. (2013). Food sovereignty. Arena Magazine, 123, 14–15.Google Scholar
Rose, N., & Davila, F. (2013). Feeding the world with a mix of science and tradition. The Conversation. Retrieved July 12, 2013, from https://theconversation.com/feeding-the-world-with-a-mix-of-science-and-tradition-15693Google Scholar
Soils for Life. (2012). Innovations for regenerative landscape management: Case studies of regenerative land management in practice. Canberra, Australia: Author. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://www.soilsforlife.orgGoogle Scholar
Taylor, E. (2007). An update of transformative learning theory: A critical review of the empirical research (1999–2005). International Journal of Lifelong Education, 26, 173–191. doi:10.1080/02601370701219475CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Via Campesina. (1996). Food sovereignty: A future without hunger. Retrieved from http://viacampesina.org/downloads/pdf/policydocuments/policydocuments-en-final.pdfGoogle Scholar
Walter, P. (2012). Theorising community gardens as pedagogical sites in the food movement. Environmental Education Research, 1–19.Google Scholar
Wittman, H., Desmarais, A. A., & Wiebe, N. (2010). The origins and potential of food sovereignty. In Wittman, H., Aurélie, D.A., & Wiebe, N. (Eds.), Food sovereignty: Reconnecting food, nature and community. Winnipeg, Canada: Fernwood.Google Scholar