Is research and collaboration around sustainable food production a key component of building a good anthropocene?
Objective: Identifying a range of current practices in the context of European food systems that have the potential to contribute to transitions to sustainable food and nutrition security in Europe.
TRANSMANGO (http://www.transmango.eu/index.html) is a research project supporting the goal of sustainable food and nutrition security in Europe. Scenario work is employed to explore a range of possible transitions towards food and nutrition security, particularly in urban settings. Given the rate of urbanization globally, a focus on sustainable urban food and nutrition security has strong potential for solving global challenges, especially when it employs diverse strategies and is not tied to one-sided ideas and discourses. TRANSMANGO research investigates a mix of complementary ideas, without limiting focus to any single approach to food and nutrition security (e.g. only sustainable intensification, only food sovereignty, or local food only). Urban food policies also have the benefit of a workable governance level at which many dimensions of food can be integrated and engaged with holistically, and there is high potential for citizen participation, engagement and learning.
Examples from the Transmango study are the sustainable food cities network in the UK, Urban Food Strategies in the Netherlands, the Cork Food Policy Council and others.
