Food is a social lubricant

Many city residents have little knowledge of how food is produced, and those who don’t know how food ends up on their plates are unlikely to make wise decisions about food policy. We’ve already seen quite a few examples of this. But in recent years, something has changed. Initiatives for urban farming, rooftop gardens, and vertical farming are increasing. Reko-rings are growing, gardening tips are shared on social media, and photos of lush tomato plants appear on Instagram.

Investments in food within the city get a lot of attention and funding, especially when something is labeled “food tech.” It’s tempting to be sarcastic about this English term, and of course it’s true that the future of food supply does not depend on high-tech buildings with integrated insect farming or a few raised beds with leafy greens in socially vulnerable areas. But I still want to argue that anything that increases city dwellers’ knowledge of how food is produced is good.

Knowledge is needed

First: knowledge of cultivation is necessary in a real crisis. The situation today cannot be compared to the Second World War – read more about this in Ingrid Petersson’s column on page 20 of this issue of STAD. Back then, most city residents still had relatives living on family farms. Today, those ties are cut, not only for those who have arrived in Sweden from other countries, but also for most people who have grown up here.

Second: gathering around food – both its cultivation and preparation – is an important part of social preparedness. Food is a social lubricant. If people have farmed together on a micro-scale, it becomes easier to scale up in times of crisis. Just as a shared meal builds a sense of belonging, so does shared cultivation; it can bridge divides and conflicts.

Let us not, for that reason, forget what has always been most important for securing urban food supply – logistics and markets. For better or worse, we have built advanced transport systems with large intermediate storage hubs. Four-fifths of the fruit and vegetables eaten in Sweden pass through the Helsingborg area. It’s easy to imagine what could happen in the event of a toxic spill or radioactive leak in Helsingborg. Alternative transport routes and storage facilities are necessary.

We must also ensure that marketplaces function. In the past year, I’ve experienced several times that card payment systems failed when I was buying food. The retail chain had no clear plan other than waiting for the connection to be restored. This approach will not work in the future.

Unfortunate polarization

We also need to develop alternative systems to secure food supply in cities. “Alternative” should not be understood as necessarily small-scale or local. It is a trap to believe that everything is better simply because it is local. The idea that a particular geographic scale determines food quality is rather unreasonable. Relying on international supply chains to always function is also naive – if nothing else, we learned that during the pandemic and the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

In most wealthy countries, there is an unfortunate polarization between those who advocate large-scale, global systems and those who advocate small-scale, local ones. Parallel systems must be allowed to exist side by side if we are to achieve real robustness in the food system. Instead of getting stuck in the large-scale–small-scale dichotomy, it’s better to reflect on which scales are smart and can complement each other. There is much to learn from international collaborations. Our colleagues in Ukraine have extensive experience in rapidly adapting under pressure.

The relationship between city and countryside

SLU’s global network of researchers is already collaborating across borders in projects aimed at developing food systems from an urban perspective. Projects in South America, Africa, Southeast Asia, and many other places provide inspiration to try approaches we have not yet explored in Sweden – many challenges are surprisingly similar across national borders. It is in this context that I want to emphasize the need for diversity in research and education about food and cities. We must not get stuck in internal debates about what is most efficient.

However, we must continually reflect critically on where different paths lead and what values different solutions can contribute. We should also try to restore the relationships between city and countryside that were taken for granted a couple of generations ago but are now weakened. I would also like to see increased cooperation between practitioners, researchers, and industry. Food artisans and chefs are used to improvising and quickly finding alternative ingredients and methods when something runs out. This ability should be utilized in large-scale production as well.

HÅKAN JÖNSSON
Coordinator for the Food and Cities initiative run by the future platforms SLU Future Food and SLU Urban Futures