Planting seeds for healthy food acquisition

Exploring how urban agriculture, focussed on local food production of exotic fruits and vegetables, can contribute to everyday healthy food acquisition practices.

The (re)localization of the globalized food production towards urban agriculture within alternative food systems is often supported by the potential to shorten the supply chain and decrease the distance between producer and consumer. Reconnecting consumers with production is generally supposed to increase the valuation of fresh foods and consequently the uptake of fresh unprocessed foods in the diet. Therefore, urban agriculture has been suggested as an intervention to change food consumption practices and thereby tackle public health problems such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. However, the question is how this applies to the multi-ethnic urban population that characterise the multi-ethnic cities of Europe. Where there is a variety of food cultures with their corresponding food preferences, tastes and food practices. The role of urban agriculture and its potential support for healthy food consumption within a diverse urban area has not been studied thoroughly. Therefore, this thesis studies the link between (1) (un)healthy food choice and (2) the food environment in relation to special urban agriculture scenarios, through (3) the food acquiring practices of 15 consumers within the case study of Amsterdam Zuidoost. Through a social practice lens, this link is examined by first exploring how a healthy dietary pattern is viewed by practitioners of a diverse urban society and how they acquire their foods. Secondly, it shows the barriers of the food environment for a healthy way of food acquisition. Thirdly, future scenarios are tested to examine how the practice of urban agriculture and its influence on the local food environment can support the healthy aspects of the practitioners’ lifestyles. Results show that the accessibility and visibility of the urban agriculture facilities are important for supporting people by the intake of more locally produced foods. In order to reach a large group with healthy locally produced foods, the focus on production must be high. The foods must be accessible within the direct neighbourhood to make sure that people can practice the healthy food acquisition within their daily life. In addition, for knowledge exchange about culinary heritage, cultural foods and the community engagement, the focus must be more on the social aspect of urban agriculture. Overall it is important to make both the places of production and market sales easily accessible.