Delineating the Southwest British Columbia Bioregion for Food System Design and Planning: A Practical Approach

Abstract

In light of climate change, resource depletion and environmental degradation, food system vulnerability, and food insecurity, the potential to address issues of food system sustainability on local and regional scales is being increasingly recognized and pursued. Bioregions, generally defined as areas that share similar topography, plant and animal life, and human culture, represent an appropriate and consistently applicable scale and framework for sustainable food system analysis, design, and planning. As such, for a southwest British Columbia (SWBC) bioregion food system design and planning project, our first task was to delineate

Between Global and Local: Exploring Regional Food Systems from the Perspectives of Four Communities in the U.S. Northeast

“…Meanwhile, regional approaches may still provide producers more flexibility to practice socially, ecologically, and economically sustainable practices through product and market differentiation than producers striving for maximum volume at minimum costs (many of which are externalized). Several critical components of food system resilience and sustainability could be more optimally addressed at regional scales-including water resources, land use, topography, market access, and farm scale-than at local or global levels (Harris et al, 2016). Organizing social institutions, economic development, and ecosystem interactions at optimal sustainable scales is becoming increasingly important as we seek to mitigate and adapt to climate change, economic crises, and other environmental and socio-political concerns (Harris et al, 2016;Newman & Dale, 2009).…”

“…For their project focused on southwest British Columbia, Harris and his colleagues employed a bioregional approach, which includes such landscape and social features as "terrestrial, marine, islands, watersheds, ecoregions, geopolitical boundaries, transport routes, and culture" (Harris et al, 2016, p. 12). Comparable to the fluidity of the regional construct, bioregions supersede fixed boundaries; the concept tends to necessitate experts consulting with community members to better understand what connects them to the food and agricultural landscape (Harris et al, 2016).…”

“…Regional producers could also align themselves around social justice values to combat inequities of the national and global food system, such as the Federation of Southern Cooperatives explicitly pursuing economic, land, and housing justice for Black, Hispanic, Native American, and women farmers and ranchers (Zippert, 2014). Exploiting these opportunities through the adoption of a regional food-system framework may better supply the food needs of region inhabitants while also optimizing natural resource sustainability, land use planning, scale, economic development, biodiversity (Ruhf & Clancy, 2010) and adaptation to climate change (Harris, Nixon, Newman, & Mullinix, 2016).…”

Local or global: A biophysical analysis of a regional food system

“…Concerns about environmental, economic and social impacts of the modern, global food system, and the implications of global changes on food security and sustainability have promulgated considerable investigation of, and action toward the localization or regionalization of food systems (e.g., Peters et al, 2009; Edward Jones 2010; Harris et al, 2016; Mullinix et al, 2016). A significant motivation for the localization of food systems is a potential environmental benefit and in particular the notion that production at the local scale is more sustainable from an environmental stewardship perspective.…”

Municipal Policy Enabling Regional Food Systems in British Columbia, Canada: Assessing Focal Areas and Gaps

“…Simultaneously, the majority of wealth generated from this food system accrues to a small number of largely transnational corporations, distant physically, economically, and socially from the regions and people most affected by food system externalities (Clapp, 2012;IPES, 2017). The localization or regionalization of food systems is offered by many as a remedy, in whole or part, for these undesirable and unnecessary outcomes (Cleveland, Müller, Tranovich, Mazaroli & Hinson, 2014;Harris, Nixon, Newman, & Mullinix, 2016;Mullinix et al, 2016).…”