The cutting-edge Research Agenda in the book curated by Colin Sage gathers chapters from internationally renowned specialists addressing the pressing issues facing food systems, including the growing concentration and power of large agri-food corporations, the contribution of food production to climate breakdown, the exploitation of agricultural labor, food poverty and the reconfiguration of animal bodies. Possible ‘solutions’ are explored of interest to all of us and to policy makers, including the potential for a digital agricultural revolution, the contribution of alternative proteins in dietary change, and the emergence of regionalized and regenerative food systems.
From the publisher:
Elgar Research Agendas outline the future of research in a given area. Leading scholars are given the space to explore their subject in provocative ways, and map out the potential directions of travel. They are relevant but also visionary.
Illuminating the global food system as a highly dynamic set of interconnecting interests and sub-systems that drives rapid technological, societal, and cultural change, this cutting-edge Research Agenda examines the pressing issues that confront food systems, and the emerging responses to them.
Chapters from internationally renowned specialists address the pressing issues facing food systems, including the growing concentration and power of large agri-food corporations, the contribution of food production to climate breakdown, the exploitation of agricultural labor, food poverty, and the reconfiguration of animal bodies. Reviewing possible ‘solutions,’ chapters then examine the potential for a digital agricultural revolution, the contribution of alternative proteins in dietary change, and the emergence of regionalized and regenerative food systems. The book concludes with a look towards hybrid foodscapes, exploring how design can help us re-imagine our stake in future food systems.
Interdisciplinary, holistic, and accessible in its approach, this innovative book will prove vital to students and scholars engaged in the study of food – from production to consumption – as well as those concerned with policymaking in the fields of public health and nutrition, food governance, sustainability, and environmental advocacy.
About Dr. Colin Sage
Colin Sage, since retiring as Senior Lecturer in the Department of Geography at UCC, now work as an independent scholar based in Portugal. He continues to develop his research interests in food systems, environmental policy, and civic initiatives for social change. He is the author of Environment and Food (Routledge, 2012) and co-editor of Food System Transformations (Routledge 2021), Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Transitions to Sustainability (Routledge, 2017), Food Transgressions: Making sense of contemporary food politics (Routledge, 2014) and Strategies for Sustainable Development (Wiley, 1994). Sage has published 70 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters and delivered more than 100 keynote lectures and conference papers.
Sage is an honorary Visiting Professor on the MA Food Studies program at The American University, Rome as well as at the University of Gastronomic Sciences near Turin, Italy (since 2004). He served as External Examiner at City University London - for their world class MSc in Food Policy (2012-17) and has been Visiting Scholar in the School of Social Sciences, University of Tasmania (2018); a Project ITALY® Action 2: Visiting Scholar at the University of Bergamo (2015) and an Exchange Professor at Colby College, Maine, USA. He was awarded an Irish Research Council Senior Research Fellowship for 2008-09.
As an academic strongly committed to public engagement, Sage co-founded and served as Chair (2013-19) for the Cork Food Policy Council. He is strongly committed to developing trans-disciplinary conversations around ways of addressing contemporary environmental challenges.
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