TY - JOUR

T1 - Flipping the Tortilla: Social-Ecological Innovations and Traditional Ecological Knowledge for More Sustainable Agri-Food Systems in Spain

AU - Lara, Leonie Guerrero

AU - Pereira, Laura M.

AU - Ravera, Federica

AU - Jimenez-Aceituno, Amanda

N1 - Funding Information: Most importantly we want to thank all wonderful initiatives for participating in our study-without you, this study would not have possible. We acknowledge the Chair in Agroecology and Food Systems of the University of Vic for the support during the fieldwork and contact with initiatives. Thanks also to Albert Norström for valuable comments during the thesis process. The fieldwork of this research was funded by the Stockholm Resilience Centre. For realization of this work the corresponding author received funds by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Spain) (IJCI-2015-25586) and AXA Research Fund for the project AGATA (www.agata.cat) (2017-2019). The project ADAPTAL El rol del conocimiento tradicional agrario y alimentario en la adaptación al cambio climático (CSO-2016-SPID201600X078845IV0) funded by the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (Spain) also supported this work. This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Numbers 115300). Publisher Copyright: © 2019 by the authors.

PY - 2019/3/1

Y1 - 2019/3/1

N2 - The conventional dominant global agri-food system is a main driver in the Anthropocene: food production entails profound global environmental changes from greenhouse gas emissions to biodiversity loss, and shifting diets further impact planetary and human health. Innovative approaches are needed to shift towards more sustainable, equitable and healthy agri-food systems. Building on the increasing recognition of the relevance of traditional agroecological knowledge (TAeK) in sustainable food systems, this paper aims to describe innovative agri-food initiatives and explore how the use and valorization of TAeK may transform conventional agri-food systems. It employs a case-study approach in Spain, where we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 representatives of alternative agri-food initiatives. We found that, to promote sustainable agri-food systems, TAeK has to span from farm-to-fork. Innovative agroecological practices and knowledge help to safeguard biocultural diversity, while gastronomic knowledge among consumers on how to process and prepare local varieties and species is crucial for the implementation of shorter value chains. We discuss how TAeK enhances the success of conventional systems of innovation, challenging dominant epistemological frameworks. By scaling deep (changing values), scaling out (dissemination, reproduction) and scaling up (changing institutions), the agri-food initiatives may act on leverage points to enable broader transformation of the Spanish agri-food system.

AB - The conventional dominant global agri-food system is a main driver in the Anthropocene: food production entails profound global environmental changes from greenhouse gas emissions to biodiversity loss, and shifting diets further impact planetary and human health. Innovative approaches are needed to shift towards more sustainable, equitable and healthy agri-food systems. Building on the increasing recognition of the relevance of traditional agroecological knowledge (TAeK) in sustainable food systems, this paper aims to describe innovative agri-food initiatives and explore how the use and valorization of TAeK may transform conventional agri-food systems. It employs a case-study approach in Spain, where we conducted semi-structured interviews with 12 representatives of alternative agri-food initiatives. We found that, to promote sustainable agri-food systems, TAeK has to span from farm-to-fork. Innovative agroecological practices and knowledge help to safeguard biocultural diversity, while gastronomic knowledge among consumers on how to process and prepare local varieties and species is crucial for the implementation of shorter value chains. We discuss how TAeK enhances the success of conventional systems of innovation, challenging dominant epistemological frameworks. By scaling deep (changing values), scaling out (dissemination, reproduction) and scaling up (changing institutions), the agri-food initiatives may act on leverage points to enable broader transformation of the Spanish agri-food system.

KW - transformations

KW - local initiatives

KW - sustainability

KW - scaling

KW - social-ecological systems

KW - gastronomy

KW - traditional agroecological knowledge

KW - Sustainability education

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85062861565&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/su11051222

DO - 10.3390/su11051222

M3 - Journal articles

VL - 11

JO - Sustainability

JF - Sustainability

SN - 2071-1050

IS - 5

M1 - 1222

ER -