Approaching sustainable urban development in China through a food system planning lens

(A message for Chinese planners about feeding cities)

Steffanie ScottDept. of Geography & Environmental Management, University of Waterloo

sdscott@uwaterloo.ca

Zhenzhong Sizsi@uwaterloo.ca

& Jenelle Regnier-Davies

http://env-blogs.uwaterloo.ca/ecoagchina/

Our background: 4-year research project

• Jenelle Regnier-Davis• Master's thesis, 2015Fake Meat and Cabbageworms:

Connecting Perceptions of Food Safety and Household Level Food Security in Urban China

• My experience…

• A networking and policy-making group …working on building a strong voice for a healthy food system in Waterloo Region

• We are a group of representatives from key sectors and interests of the local food system…who share the goal of a healthier food system in Waterloo Region.

Nearly 300 food system roundtables/food policy councils in N America

A regional food system

A spectrum of food system stakeholders

Producers/

harvesters

processors distributors

retailers consumers

Organic farmers

small and large scale

CSAs

Food services, restaurants

Low income consumers

Public Health (inspection, education)

urban agriculture

Retail shopssmall & large

Neighbourhood markets,

farm markets

Emergency food

distribution

Planners (land use &

zoning, bylaws, regulation)

Institutional purchasers

Community-based organizations, marketing

boards, economic development organizations

small and large scale

Farmers & farm

organizations

Researchers, teachers

fisherfolk

• A healthy, just, and sustainable food system is one in which all residents have access to, and can afford to buy, safe, nutritious, and culturally acceptable food that has been produced in an environmentally sustainable way, and that supports rural communities

• Such a food system promotes social justice, population health, and profitable farms, reflects and sustains local culture, and supports ecological viability

• Food is not a traditional municipal responsibility

• Most food systems issues are usually seen as provincial and national matters

• But cities are food players

• > 64 municipalities in Canada are engaged in food policy and practice

• These municipalities are becoming “food policy entrepreneurs” using food to advance progress towards health, social, environmental, and economic objectives

Common areasfor food policy initiatives

• Land property rights• The urban water sector • Urban labor market changes

and social protection for urban informal workers

• Wealth redistribution • Rebuilding residential space • Large urban redevelopment

projects • Retail capital and production

of new consumption spaces

• Need for combined planning approaches that address food security within ecological constraints, and the capacity to deal with food system shocks (e.g., price) and global environmental change (e.g., climate change)

• China’s ‘Liveable City Standards’: only one of over 100 indicators related to food: “sufficient and quality food supply” (Wang and Shao 2010: 145)

• Urgent demand in China to develop ecologically sustainable rural & urban planning models that also ensure food security & safety

Agri-food sector transformations in China

• Food safety scandals & environmental health threats

• Loss of agricultural land (& farmers) to urbanization

• Supermarketization • Dietary transition (fast food,

meat-based diets) skyrocketing health care costs (e.g., obesity, diabetes, heart disease)

Our ‘pitch’: how a food system approach can be applied to Chinese cities…

• Provides a lens for recognizing opportunities and challenges within the food system in China

• Identifies ways to develop a more sustainable food system

• Call for further research & action

Assets & opportunitiesfor sustainable urban food systems in China

• China has agricultural policy, but not food policy

• Solutions must go beyond the technocratic• state-led• market-driven• citizen-led

More than crop yields…

Social well-being & health

Economic Environmental

Food production

Processing

Distribution & exchange

Retail & food access

Consumption

Management of food waste

Assets and opportunities for sustainable urban food systems in China

Social well-being & health

Economic Environmental

Food production

• Integration of small-scale producers

• Need for ‘redignifying’ farming

• Need for more land for recreational gardening (urban agriculture)…

• Local/peri-urban food production…

• Integration of small-scale producers

• Investment in agriculture

• Promotion of multi-functional agriculture—for education, food production and leisure (agri-tourism)

• Agricultural land protection policies

• Eco-agriculture standards & support for organic/green food production…

• Need soil rehabilitation for urban & rural agriculture

• Need to address biodiversity threats from urbanization

• Local/peri-urban food production• E.g., in 2007 Nanjing supplied

44% of its own grain crops 40% of its vegetables20% of its pork10% of fisheries 30% of poultry15% of eggs

Ecological food quality standards

Geographical indication labelling

Types of (especially local-level) government support for organic production

• Market governance & promotion• Administering standards and testing• Organizing expos & other promotion for ecologically grown food• Facilitating (organic) farmers’ cooperatives

• Accessing land• Land leasing (as a broker); providing land for CSAs (Little Donkey Farm,

Big Buffalo farm)• Establishing eco-agricultural zones, agricultural parks, and demonstration bases

• Financial support• “Dragon-head enterprises”• Loans with low or no interest• Subsidies for certification

• Training & education

“Weekend farming”: Rented plots (for urban gardeners) near Chengdu, Sichuan province

Need for more land for recreational gardening (urban agriculture)

• Expand opportunities for recreational garden plots• Affordable safe food, connecting with nature,

relaxation, physical exercise, education for children• See community gardens （社区农园） experience in

Korea, Japan, North America

• Also promote balcony/container gardening (sometimes prohibitedin Chinese cities)

Assets and opportunities

Social well-being & health

Economic Environmental

Processing Reduce production of highly processed, non-nutritional food products; expand healthier options

Local food processing infrastructure

Local food processing

Assets and recommendations

Social well-being & health

Economic Environmental

Distribution & exchange

Retail & food access

Access to fresh produce

• Short food supply chains, provide employment

• Diverse food distribution channels: local wet markets, convenience stores, supermarkets

• Informal food sector/street food vending (to be strengthened, not eliminated—a basis for ‘inclusive growth’)

• Opportunities for sustainable institutional food procurement

• Emerging ‘alternative food networks’: ecological farmers markets (need stronger support), CSAs, buying clubs

Uncertified (self-declared) organic food & alternative food networks in China

• Based on consumers negotiating trust with producers - rather than trusting the quality assurance of certification

• CSAs (& recreational gardening/plot rental)社区支持农业• Organic farmers’ markets 有机农夫市集• Buying clubs 消费者共同购买团体• Organic food 有机餐馆

restaurants

The Beijing Country Fair

Beijing Youji Nongfu ShijiThe first and the most influential farmers’ market

Criteria for farms to participate• No pesticides, synthetic chemical fertilizers, GM seeds used• Animals not caged, no unnecessary antibiotics or hormones• Independent small to medium size farms• Be open and transparent with customers about production

methods (protect consumer rights)• For prepared foods: use no chemical additives, prepared

in a traditional way

CSAs (Community supported agriculture farms) in China

Foster connections with small-scale ecological farmers

• Smallholders are denigrated as inefficient and backward, and blamed for unsafe food

• Yet supporting ecological practices of small scale farmers can • Improve rural livelihoods• Support biodiversity & soil fertility• Facilitates integration, rather than exclusion, within the emerging

organic market (social justice concerns)• more easily build connections & trust with consumers & provide

safe food• They should be supported to develop

markets & get certification

Social enterprise organic/natural food restaurants – e.g., Tushengliangpin 土生良品 restaurant, Nanning,Guangxi

Assets and opportunities Social well-being

& healthEconomic Environmental

Consumption • Walkable access to buy fresh produce

• Need to promote healthy diets, ethical consumption

• Promote school gardens

• Address food safety concerns by rebuilding trust, esp between consumers and producers, & reconnecting people to their ecosystems through food

High demand for healthy/safe/clean food, but need to make (certified & non-certified) organic food more affordable…

• Good public transit infrastructure for food shopping

• Political will 很强的政府意志 e.g., eco-city, low-carbon/planning

• Need to promote sustainable diets (e.g., less meat/seafood)

• Much consumer confusion about labels & standards

• need to build food literacy (state, private sector, and CBO roles)…

Build food literacy: public awareness about the food system and organic food

• About the dysfunctional global food system

• Understanding what organic means and the challenges of production

• Reasons why we should pay more for it

• Realities of farmer livelihoods • Could learn from Taiwan?

• Very few organizations are doing this work (changing value systems)

• Consumer Education

• Advocacy• Networking• Farmer

Education

Demand for healthy/safe/clean food is high…

a display of local wild vegetables in a restaurant in Chongqing

Need to make (certified and non-certified) organic food more affordable

• Especially by supporting small-scale producers to gain certification and/or identify markets for their products

• E.g., through alternative food networks

Assets and opportunities

Social well-being & health

Economic Environmental

Management of food waste

Could redistribute unsold food to disadvantaged groups

Employment opportunities in recycling food waste and packaging

• Starting to tackle food waste (consumer-level)

• Need to reduce food packaging

• Need for better waste separation (recycling, biodegradable), re-directing ‘waste’ for composting

• Could redistribute unsold food to disadvantaged groups

Abstract: Green building codes normally consider self-sufficiency of energy and water. Their highest aspiration is to build zero carbon buildings (ZCB) or zero energy buildings (ZEB). However, a zero-energy building is not sustainable, as it does not take into account the self-sufficiency of food and waste.

This paper puts forward a novel planning model to approach a zero-food waste and zero-(organic) waste community (ZFW community), paving the way to achieve a truly sustainable community with four-zeros on energy, water, food, and waste. It considers a community of 40-ha land accommodating 10,000 persons.

If 8-ha farmland is additionally provided, then it can achieve 100% self-sufficiency in fertilizer (organic waste) and 40% self-sufficiency in vegetables. It does not only save carbon dioxide emission due to transportation of food and waste, but it also helps reduce 40% of the landfill space.

A Novel Planning Model for Approaching a Zero-Food Waste and Zero-Waste

CommunityChung Yim Edward Yiu, Chinese University of Hong Kong,

Department of Geography and Resource Management& Bente Castro Campos, Institute of Future Cities

2014

Adopt a ‘food systems’ （食物系统）approach to planning & integrated policy

Cross-sector dialogues for regional food planning…

• Signed (in Oct 2015) by over 100 city mayors world wide - including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing

Urban policy framework for action• Governance • Diet & nutrition• Social and economic equity• Food production• Food supply & distribution• Food waste

Opportunities for Integrating Food & Agriculture into Sustainable Community Planning

State, private sector, and CBO roles…

Social well-being & health

Economic Environmental

Food production

Processing

Distribution & exchange

Retail & food access

Consumption

Management of food waste

Conclusions• There is much scope for food system planning

at the level of city regions in China• There are some key assets that should be preserved and supported.

And there are key opportunities for further development.