Food Thinkers: City Region Food Systems: What, Why, How?

We are pleased to invite you to our next Food Thinkers on March 27th given by Michael Hamm from Michigan State University on 'City Region Food Systems: What, Why, How?'.

The talk will be chaired by Corinna Hawkes, Director of the Centre for Food Policy.

The Centre for Food Policy’s Food Thinkers series aims to advance the thinking and practice of integrated approaches to food policy.

This Food Thinkers event will discuss the "City Region Food Systems" approach to moving the global food system towards greater sustainability and equity. Climate change, water stress, population growth, and continued urbanization are the challenges that threaten to negatively impact global food security. In this presentation, Professor Hamm will seek to shine a light on the opportunities of thinking more regionally about our food system, within a global context. That is, to consider strategies that maximize the sustainable production of food on our plates within a region, while also sourcing foods outside the region that are produced with a similar set of embedded characteristics. In the London area (and across England) this would mean a significant increase in fruit and vegetable production throughout the year. Can this be done in a way that reduces the carbon footprint of the food supply? Can this be done in a way that reduces other environmental impacts of the food system – such as phosphorus and nitrogen cycles? These and other issues will be discussed and questions raised to stimulate audience discussion.

Dr. Michael W. Hamm

Michigan State University

Mike’s work is focused on sustainable and regionalized food systems. He is the C. S. Mott Professor of Sustainable Agriculture and Senior Fellow, Center for Regional Food Systems (CRFS) at Michigan State University. He has a Ph.D. in Human Nutrition from the University of Minnesota. Prior to 2003 move to MSU he spent nineteen years on the Rutgers University faculty in Nutritional Sciences. At MSU he was founding Director of the Center for Regional Food Systems. In his sixteen years at MSU Mike has published on a range of topics regarding health, sustainable food systems, urban agriculture, and regional/local food systems. Most recently he was the lead author on the health chapter for the TEEBAgriFood report TEEB for Agriculture & Food: Scientific and Economic Foundations. He is a member of the Menu of Change Technical Advisory Committee and was a governor-appointed member of the Michigan Food Policy Council. Mike was a consultant on sustainability for the 2015 U.S. Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee report. He is currently also an Oxford Martin Visiting Fellow at Oxford University.