2000m2 Baltic - Co-creating food culture and innovation
Transforming food systems on a global scale is one of the single most important things that need to happen in order to meet Agenda 2030 goals and to steer away from the worst climate change scenarios.
This transformation needs to be guided by scientific knowledge about boundaries of ecosystems on different scales. In BSR, we need for example to be aware of the planetary boundaries and the boundaries of the Baltic sea. We also need to take into account the need to use less arable land/person and year for food production if, to make it possible to feed the growing world population. Sharing arable land equitably provides each person with 2000m2 for food production.
The Eat Lancet commission, an international research initiative on sustainable food systems, recently communicated “No single solution is enough to avoid crossing the planetary boundaries. But when the solutions are implemented together, our research indicates that it may be possible to feed the growing population sustainably.” As pointed out by Ellen McArthur foundation this year in Davos, new systems need to be founded on three principles “source food grown regeneratively, and locally where appropriate; make the most of food (use by-products more effectively, prevent waste); design and market healthier food.” The Ellen McArthur foundation report presents a synthesis of current scientific knowledge on sustainable development and concludes that not only do we know enough to act, there is also a momentum for change that opens up possibilities for a big transformation of the food systems.
Translating these scientific general principles into new, local, attractive food cultures created in a dialogue between stakeholders from farm to fork is one of the most significant things we can do to make Agenda 2030 successful.
Lead partner and coordinator
Swedish Biodynamic Research Institute / Stiftelsen Biodynamiska forskningsinstitutet (SBFI)
Partners
Research Centre of Organic Farming of Estonian University of Life Sciences EULS RCOF (Eesti Maaülikooli Mahekeskus); Estonia
Estonian Organic Farming Foundation, (EOFF); Estonia
Stanisław Karłowski-Foundation/ FSK (Fundacja imienia Stanisława Karłowskiego); Poland
Rosendals trädgård; Sweden
An article about 2000 m2 experiment at Rosendal (in Swedish) - link here.
More reading about the science that informs the 2000 m2 concept
Benchmarking the Swedish Diet Relative to Global and National Environmental Targets—Identification of Indicator Limitations and Data Gaps (Moberg, Potter, Wood, & Hansson, 2020)
Beyond the borders - burdens of Swedish food consumption due to agrochemicals, greenhouse gases and land-use change (Cederberg, Persson, Schmidt, Hedenus, & Wood, 2019)
Can carbon footprint serve as an indicator of the environmental impact of meat production? (Röös, Sundberg, Tidåker, Strid, & Hansson, 2013)
Climate change imposed limitations on potential food production (Vrese, Stacke, & Hagemann, 2017)
Comparing the sustainability of local and global food products in Europe (Schmitt et al., 2017)
Defining a land boundary for sustainable livestock consumption (Van Zanten et al., 2018)
Designing a future food vision for the Nordics through a participatory modeling approach (Karlsson, Carlsson, Lindberg, Sjunnestrand, & Röös, 2018)
Does the Swedish consumer's choice of food influence greenhouse gas emissions? (Wallén, Brandt, & Wennersten, 2004)
Ekologisk produktion med minskad klimatpåverkan (Röös, Sundberg, Salomon, & Wivstad, n.d.)
Environmental impact of dietary change: A systematic review (Hallström, Carlsson-Kanyama, & Börjesson, 2015)
Evaluating the sustainability of diets–combining environmental and nutritional aspects (Röös, Karlsson, Witthöft, & Sundberg, 2015)
Exploratory study on the land area required for global food supply and the potential global production of bioenergy (Wolf, Bindraban, Luijten, & Vleeshouwers, 2003)
Food in the Anthropocene: the EAT–Lancet Commission on healthy diets from sustainable food systems (Willett et al., 2019)
Food security: The challenge of feeding 9 billion people (Godfray et al., 2010)
Global changes in diets and the consequences for land requirements for food (Kastner, Rivas, Koch, & Nonhebel, 2012)
Global food security (Pinstrup-Andersen, Pandya-Lorch, & Rosegrant, 2001)
Greedy or needy? Land use and climate impacts of food in 2050 under different livestock futures (Röös et al., 2017)
How sustainable agriculture can adress the environmental and human health harms of industrial agriculture (Horrigan, Lawrence, & Walker, 2002)
Human appropriation of land for food: The role of diet (Alexandera et al., 2016)
Kor och klimat (Röös & Wivstad, 2019)
Less meat, more legumes: prospects and challenges in the transition toward sustainable diets in Sweden (Röös et al., 2018)
Limiting livestock production to pasture and by-products in a search for sustainable diets (Röös, Patel, Spångberg, Carlsson, & Rydhmer, 2016)
Meeting future food demand with current agricultural resources (Davis et al., 2016)
Miljöpåverkan från svensk konsumtion – nya indikatorer för uppföljning (Steinbach et al., 2018)
På väg mot miljöanpassade kostråd Vetenskapligt underlag inför miljökonsekvensanalysen av Livsmedelsverkets kostråd (Fogelberg Lagerberg, 2008)
Reducing the environmental impact of global diets (Swain, Blomqvist, McNamara, & Ripple, 2018)
Självförsörjande ekologisk odling av grönsaker på friland (Helsing, 2010)
Sustainable Food System – Targeting Production Methods, Distribution or Food Basket Content? (Larsson, Granstedt, & Thomsson, 2012)
Testing a complete-diet model for estimating the land resource requirements of food consumption and agricultural carrying capacity: The New York State example (Peters, Wilkins, & Fick, 2007)
The Mainspring of World Food Production (Román, Fernandez, Alhassan, & Paulus, 2016)
The Risks of Multiple Breadbasket Failures in the 21st Century: A Science Research Agenda (Janetos et al., 2017)
Transdisciplinary global change research: The co-creation of knowledge for sustainability (Mauser et al., 2013)