TY - JOUR
T1 - Mapping local food self-sufficiency in the U.S. and the tradeoffs for food system diversity
AU - Bingham, Darren R.
AU - Rushforth, Richard R.
AU - Stevens, Bo
AU - Ruddell, Benjamin L.
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [grant number NSF 17-047 ]; and the United States Department of Agriculture and National Science Foundation [grant number ACI-1639529 ].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
PY - 2022/6
Y1 - 2022/6
N2 - The demand for ‘local food’ by U.S. consumers has grown markedly over the last several decades, accompanied by confusion over how to define local food. Is ‘local’ food defined by the location of the farm, food processing factory, distribution warehouse, or all three? Is ‘local’ food defined by geographic, political, or biophysical boundaries? Is ‘local’ solely farm-to-table or can it include factories? This study evaluates food commodity flow ‘localness’ using jurisdictional boundaries and physical distance to investigate the potential for food system transformation and the tradeoffs inherent to ‘localizing’ food production. We take a supply chain approach by making data-driven distinctions between farm-based flows of food and industrial, energy and nonfood (IENF) crops, and manufacturing/distribution flows of food and agriculturally-derived industrial inputs. We analyze the diversity, distance (a proxy for environmental impact), political boundaries, population, weight, and price (net selling value) of food commodity flows. The diversity of a community's food supply has an optimal range of zero to four-hundred miles. We find tradeoffs between food system diversity and local food sourcing, sustainability, and self-sufficiency. As communities look to improve food system resilience, they will need to balance food-miles and the other values associated with local food.
AB - The demand for ‘local food’ by U.S. consumers has grown markedly over the last several decades, accompanied by confusion over how to define local food. Is ‘local’ food defined by the location of the farm, food processing factory, distribution warehouse, or all three? Is ‘local’ food defined by geographic, political, or biophysical boundaries? Is ‘local’ solely farm-to-table or can it include factories? This study evaluates food commodity flow ‘localness’ using jurisdictional boundaries and physical distance to investigate the potential for food system transformation and the tradeoffs inherent to ‘localizing’ food production. We take a supply chain approach by making data-driven distinctions between farm-based flows of food and industrial, energy and nonfood (IENF) crops, and manufacturing/distribution flows of food and agriculturally-derived industrial inputs. We analyze the diversity, distance (a proxy for environmental impact), political boundaries, population, weight, and price (net selling value) of food commodity flows. The diversity of a community's food supply has an optimal range of zero to four-hundred miles. We find tradeoffs between food system diversity and local food sourcing, sustainability, and self-sufficiency. As communities look to improve food system resilience, they will need to balance food-miles and the other values associated with local food.
KW - Food flows
KW - Local food
KW - Physical distance
KW - Political boundaries
KW - Supply chain diversity
KW - Urban to rural food sourcing
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U2 - 10.1016/j.apgeog.2022.102687
DO - 10.1016/j.apgeog.2022.102687
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85128377159
SN - 0143-6228
VL - 143
JO - Applied Geography
JF - Applied Geography
M1 - 102687
ER -