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Zero Hunger pp 832–843Cite as

Sustainability in Agriculture and Local Food Systems: A Solution to a Global Crisis

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Definitions

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations defines a food system as the entire range of stakeholders and their interlinked value-adding activities involved in the production, distribution and aggregation, processing, marketing, consumption and waste management of food products that originate from agriculture, forestry, and parts of the broader economic, societal and natural environments in which they are embedded (Take and Systems 2015). To be considered sustainable, a food system must deliver food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social, and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised (Bassarab et al. 2019; FAO 2017; FAO et al. 2018). A sustainable food system lies at the heart of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Introduction

Food systems have been central to the recent, unprecedented reductions in global poverty, hunger, and undernutrition,...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Lewis University, Romeoville, IL, USA

    Christina Gibbons, Brianna Morgan & Jerry H. Kavouras

  2. Polytechnical Institute of Earth and Life Sciences Unilasalle INTERACT Research Unit – Innovation, Land Management, Agriculture, Agro-Industries, Knowledge, and Technology, Rouen, France

    Marie Asma Ben-Othmen

Authors
  1. Christina Gibbons
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  2. Brianna Morgan
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  3. Jerry H. Kavouras
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  4. Marie Asma Ben-Othmen
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marie Asma Ben-Othmen .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability Science and Research, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Institute for Interdisciplinary Research, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, The University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökçin Özuyar

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. Industrial Engineering and Management, Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology, Lappeenranta, Finland

    Usama Awan

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Gibbons, C., Morgan, B., Kavouras, J.H., Ben-Othmen, M.A. (2020). Sustainability in Agriculture and Local Food Systems: A Solution to a Global Crisis. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A.M., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P.G., Wall, T. (eds) Zero Hunger. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-95675-6_116

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