Journal Article

For hunger-proof cities, sustainable urban food systems

1999

Overview

The 20th century has witnessed a massive growth in urban populations. In 1990, one-third of the world's people lived in cities of one million or more. As well, hunger and malnutrition are on the increase world-wide, as the global food system fails to satisfy the growing demand of the urban consumer. This compilation of essays, most of which were presented at the International Conference on Sustainable Urban Food Systems, is the first book to fully examine food security from an urban perspective. It examines existing local food systems and ways to improve the availability and accessibility of food for city dwellers, looks at methods to improve community-supported agriculture and co-operation between urban and rural populations, and explores what existing marketing and distribution structures can do to improve accessibility, what the emerging forms of food- distribution systems are, and how they can contribute to alleviating hunger in the cities. Finally, the book discusses the underlying structures that create poverty and inequality and examines the role of emergency food systems, such as food banks.

• Publisher: ProQuest Micromedia
• Subject: Cities and towns, Research / Food supply / Sustainable agriculture / Urban agriculture
• ISBN: 9780889368828, 0889368821