Food System Studies

Food system studies research group explores and assesses the sustainability and resilience of food system activities. The research group utilizes a post-disciplinary approach which connects social policy, economics and business management, environmental social science and philosophy. The interests of the research group embrace a diverse range of problems related to food security, food system vulnerabilities, climate change adaptation, food poverty, food ethics, food policy, and food supply chain management.

Table of contents

Research group type
Research group
Core fields of research
Languages, culture and society
Research areas
JYU.Well
JYU.Wisdom
Sustainable Societies
Faculty
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
Department of Social Sciences and Philosophy

Research group description

The capacity of global food systems to produce sustainable food security is seriously threatened by global challenges like population growth, urbanization, environmental problems, loss of farm land, resource scarcity, economic and financial concentration, inequality, and poverty. At the same time, an alarming increase in malnutrition related to overeating and unhealthy food consumption manifests itself in food-related diseases like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Identifying and addressing these challenges requires post-disciplinary and innovative research.

Various topics of our research have included:

  • exploring the policy mismatches as dysfunctional factors in and between food system activities
  • identifying and mapping food system vulnerabilities
  • analyzing the meanings given to food security
  • evaluating the cohesion of food policies
  • ethical issues related to food system activities

Our aim is to produce research that helps decision makers understand how environmental, social and political changes impact on the food system and, hence, for the food security, health, and well-being of citizens. The goal is to foresee and develop interventions that tackle the underlying causes rather than mere symptoms of vulnerabilities, and to enable researchers and decision makers to cope with increasing eco-social changes predicted to occur in the near future.

Research group

Group leaders

Tiina Silvasti

Professor

Members

Riikka Aro

Senior Researcher
Vera Kauppinen

Vera Kauppinen

Doctoral Researcher
Teea Kortetmäki

Teea Kortetmäki

Assistant Professor
Irene Kuhmonen

Irene Kuhmonen

Postdoctoral Researcher

Annika Lonkila

Postdoctoral Researcher
Tanja Niemi

Tanja Niemi

Doctoral Researcher

Related projects

Project

Just transition: Tackling inequalities on the way to a sustainable, healthy and climate-neutral food system (JUST-FOOD)

JUST-FOOD does research on just transitions to sustainable, healthy and climate-neutral food system.
Project

Ruokakansalaisuus

Hankkeessa paneudutaan pienimuotoisen viljelyn rooleihin ja mahdollisuuksiin kestävässä ja reilussa ruokamurroksessa ruokakansalaisuuden näkökulmasta.
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Project

COHAB – Environmental Landscape Ethics: A Theory of Cohabitability

COHAB will establish environmental landscape ethics and theory of cohabitability by creating interdisciplinarily constructed, ecology-informed theoretical argumentation, methods, and conceptual tools.