UI Sustainable Food Systems Project PI: Leah Wilson Advisor: Rex Honey

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UI Sustainable Food Systems ProjectPI Leah
WilsonAdvisor Rex Honey
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UI Sustainable Food Systems Project

• This project was funded in part by a grant
  from the Leopold Center for Sustainable
  Agriculture Marketing and Food Systems Initiative
  and receives additional support from
• The Johnson County Local Food Alliance
• Iowa Valley RCD
• ICASH (Iowa Center for Agricultural Safety and
  Health)
• Organic Greens
• Kalona Organics
• IMU Catering
• Applecart Orchard
• HIM Hearth n Home Cooking and Catering

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UI Sustainable Food SystemsProject Goal

• Promote Sustainability

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Project Objectives

• Objective 1 Convene, for a total of 5 meetings,
  a diverse working group consisting of at least 20
  total key university members, farmer networks and
  supporting organizations who agree to assess and
  improve the University of Iowa food system in the
  key areas of a) Human Health and Well Being, b)
  Ecological Health and c) Regional Prosperity.
• Objective 2 Draft a five-year strategic plan
  and a preliminary set of indicators for the
  university that would take measurable steps
  toward improving sustainability of the UI food
  system in the key areas of a) Human Health and
  Well Being, b) Ecological c) Health and Regional
  Prosperity.
• Objective 3 Sustain the work. Actively
  strategize about actualizing the goals in the
  strategic plan with the working group and include
  those strategies in the five-year plan

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Factor 10

• The Factor 10 Approach to Sustainability
• Factor-10 was developed by Frederich
  Schmidt-Bleek in 1991 as a tool to move from a
  high-waste economy to a low-waste economy. Key
  features
• Reduce waste at every point in the system
• Account for externalities
• Build social capital
• Implement quantifiable environmental policy
• Use ecological benchmarks sustainability
  indicators

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A typical food system
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Per Capita Ecological Footprint(Hectares of land
per person)
1 Hectare100 acres
Country
10.9
United States
The Netherlands
5.9
India
1.0
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Environmental Externalities
Biodiversity Loss
Soil
Loss and degradation of habitat from clearing
grasslands and forests and draining wetland Fish
kills from pesticide runoff Killing of wild
predators to protect livestock Loss of genetic
diversity from replacing thousands of wild
crop strains with a few monoculture strains
Erosion Loss of fertility Salinization Desertif
ication
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Externalities in Economic Terms

• Cost of DM nitrate removal plant
• Cost of fish kills
• Cost of treating obesity
• Cost of global warming
• Loss of in community due to food dollars leaving

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Air Pollution
Water
Greenhouse gas emissions from fossil Fuel
issue Other air pollutants from fossil fuel
use Pollution from pesticide sprays
Aquifer depletion Increased runoff and flooding
from land cleared to grow crops Sediment
pollution from erosion Fish kills from
pesticide runoff
Surface and groundwater pollution from
pesticides and fertilizers Overfertilization of
lakes and slow-moving rivers from runoff of
nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers,
livestock wastes, and food processing wastes
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Health Externalities
Human Health
Nitrates in drinking water Pesticide residues in
drinking water, food, and air Contamination of
drinking and swimming water with disease
organisms from livestock wastes Food-borne
illness Agricultural-related disease Nutrition
concerns
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Economic Externalities

• Consolidation leads to concentration of wealth
• Smaller percentage of food dollars stays in
  community

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Defining A Sustainable Society

• Satisfies the basic needs of its people for food,
  clean water, clean air, shelter and safe
  communities into the indefinite future without
• Depleting or degrading natural capital
• Preventing future generations of humans and other
  species from meeting their basic needs
• Adapted from Millers Living in the Environment,
  2004

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Solar Capital
Air resources and purification
Climate control
Recycling vital chemicals
Water resources and purification
Renewable energy resources
Soil formation and renewal
Natural Capital
Nonrenewable energy resources
Waste removal and detoxification
Nonrenewable mineral resources
Natural pest and disease control
Potentially renewable matter resources
Biodiversity and gene pool
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A systems approach to goal-setting

• Production
• Buy from farms who are as close to home as
  possible
• Buy from farms who use environmentally sound
  practices
• Processing
• Purchase minimally processed foods from local or
  regional processors whenever possible
• Buy from companies using green technologies and
  environmentally sensitive packaging
• Distribution
• Encourage distribution companies to source local,
  sustainable food
• Support farmer cooperatives and local
  distribution networks whenever possible
• Retail outlets
• Provide more local and organic food options for
  students
• Reduce packaging and food waste in dining halls
• Waste stream
• Encourage re-use of plant waste as a food source
  for livestock
• Strengthen composting initiative

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Recommendations of previous research

• Increase the use of local, sustainably produced
  food
• Reduce food waste through improved menu planning
  and education
• Circulate food waste through composting,
  biodiesel or animal feed
• Reduce waste water through gray-water recycling
• Educate students, staff and faculty about
  sustainable food options and benefits
• Form a task force to work on food system issues

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Sustainability Indicators
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Sustainability Indicators for a Food System
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Mapping Food SourcesLocation of Food Providers
used by Hawkeye Food Service
Researcher Michelle Martin
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Mapping the Sources of Food at UI

• Major points
• UI buys about 70 of its food from Hawkeye
  Foodservice
• Hawkeye has a list of over 250 vendors to supply
  UI
• The majority of vendors are located in Iowa,
  Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois
• Foods supplied by these vendors can come from
  near and distant places
• Tracing products back to their source is
  extremely difficult

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Food Policy at UI
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Food Policy at UI
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Farm to ISU
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Duke Sustainable Campus Initiative
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Questions for Today

• What data/resources do you have or know about
  that are pertinent to this project?
• What is your niche in this project? What spaces
  do you occupy in the food system?
• What new data do we need?
• What are your values and goals regarding food
  system sustainability?
• What sustainability indicators would you include
  in the strategic plan?

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Contact

• Leah Wilson
• Coordinator, Johnson County Local Food Alliance
• Graduate Student, Department of Geography,
  University of Iowa
• 319-621-3009
• leah.wilson_at_netzero.com   
• www.jclfa.org