Deliberative Diets

Description

Food system research combining aggregate production, trade and consumption data is increasingly used to assess the sustainability impacts of putting food on the table. Yet available methods are coarse, restricted to a handful of indicators. Emerging bottom-up sustainability assessment tools (SATs) can help fill these gaps, but also suffer from methodological challenges, underrepresentation of value-laden topics and a bias toward farm-level assessment. As a result, the multi-functionality of agroecosystems and the plurality of values they generate are not adequately captured. There is a need to further develop and integrate approaches at the food system, supply chain and farm level with transdisciplinary methods to assess and value impacts/benefits. In this way, transformative action along the entire supply chain (producers to consumers) can be conceptualized, deliberated and formulated into policy. To support this goal, the project will develop a multi-scale, integrated sustainability assessment and valuation approach and apply it in case studies (CSs) of two high-impact Swiss supply chains (cocoa from Ecuador and oil and nut crops from Spain). The project has five interacting modules (M): M1 reviews and further develops methods for the monetary and non-monetary valuation of agro-ecosystems (e.g. ecosystem services, social and economic values). The resulting methods, indicators, and database of valuation results, will strengthen under-represented themes in sustainability assessment in CSs (M2) and contribute data for scenario development (M3) and food systems modelling (M3). M2 further develops integrated methods for sustainability assessment of agricultural supply chains, harmonizing life cycle and multi-criteria methods and filling gaps in social/cultural themes with valuation research (from M1). The output will be a consistent two-tier approach for (i) hotspot detection and (ii) detailed assessment, which will be applied to the CS supply chains, complemented by existing data. The results will deliver bottom-up validation and inventory data for food system modelling (M3) and be employed to evaluate of supply chain scenarios (M4). M3 will further develop an existing food system model to improve coverage of sustainability dimensions, implementing novel impact assessment methods and integrating bottom-up sustainability assessment data and valuation results (M1 and M2). The model will be used to reflect food system dynamics in the development of supply chain scenarios (M4), and support the integrated valuation of food system policies (M5). M4 brings together producer and consumer perspectives along case study supply chains to co-create and evaluate transformational supply chain pathways. This will involve mapping interactions among actors, analysing decision-making behaviour and underlying motivations, and weighing the results of other modules (M1-3) in multi-stakeholder processes. Finally, M5 will take these supply chain pathways and embed them in an exploratory integrated valuation of future food systems scenarios using an analytical-deliberative approach of citizen deliberation on scientific and policy input. The project will deliver a breakthrough approach connecting hotspot detection in large-scale food system model to bottom-up, mixed-methods assessment and co-creation of improvement scenarios to be deliberated within a science-society-policy interface by Swiss citizens. This will deliver robust recommendations and use-orientated outcomes (e.g. freely available decision-support tools, datasets and analysis scripts) and supporting resources (protocols, guidelines, policy briefs). The project builds upon existing partnerships by the project team with research, industry and public policy, and ensures a meaningful contribution to more sustainable modes of production and consumption.

Project Web Site

https://data.snf.ch/grants/grant/202300

Primary Contact

Bieri, Sabin