Self-Sufficiency Assessment: Defining the Foodshed Spatial Signature of Supply Chains for Beef in Avignon, France

Description

Foodshed approaches allow for the assessment of the theoretical food self-sufficiencycapacity of a specific region based on biophysical conditions. Recent analyses show that the focusneeds to be shifted from foodshed size portrayed as an isotropic circle to a commodity–group-specificspatial configuration of the foodshed that takes into account the socio-economic and biophysicalconditions essential to the development of local food supply chains. We focused on a specific animalproduct (beef) and used an innovative modeling approach based on spatial analysis to detect theareas of the foodshed dedicated to beef feeding (forage, pasture, and grassland), considering thefoodshed as a complex of complementary areas called an archipelago. We used available statisticaldata including a census to address the city-region of Avignon, France covering a 100 km radius.Our results showed that the factors driving the use of short supply chains for beef feeding areasare the foodshed archipelago's number of patches, the connectivity between them, and the rugosityof the boundaries. In addition, our beef self-sufficiency assessment results differ depending ongeographical context. For instance, being located within the perimeters of a nature park seems tohelp orient beef production toward short supply chains. We discuss possible leverage for publicaction to reconnect beef production areas to consumption areas (the city) via short supply chains (e.g.,green, home-grown school food programs) to increase local food security through increased localfood self-sufficiency.

Abstract

International audience

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