This report borrows from Peters’ strategy of a somewhat hybridized version of these two interpretations to define foodshed as the flow of food from production to consumption, while associating the term with bolstering food production at a local scale, minimizing the distance food travels, and thus the environmental impact, of the food system of Shelburne Falls. Over many decades, local and regional food systems have converged and expanded so that most humans rely on a global food system today. An increasingly widespread discourse that addresses environmentalism and resilience in the face of global climate change and peak oil has emerged, and those in favor of creating and supporting localized food systems have embraced the concept of a foodshed to help illustrate the spider’s web of any particular locale’s food supply. While a foodshed generally refers to the geographic area from which food comes – the distance from production to consumption – it is possible to define the term to measure overall environmental impact of food production and transportation. For instance, aside from measuring distance of food travel, a foodshed
Energy use for different modes of freight transport Water Rail Primary energy consumption (KJ/Ton-km)
Road Air 0
5,000 10,000 15,000
20,000
Figure 2. A foodshed could measure the amount of energy used to transport food as well as the distance it travels.
could be constructed to illustrate the amount of energy and inputs required to grow the food (fertilizer, water, and chemicals, if non-organic), or by the amount of energy in fossil fuels to transport it, or by a combination of the overall energy required to produce and transport the food (Figure 2). No matter how a foodshed is measured, the goal of the Shelburne Falls Food Security Plan is to outline ways to minimize the scale of the village’s foodshed, and to rely on local foods and products rather than those transported from across the globe. At this time, only minimal information is available as to how much food is produced and consumed locally, and a future phase of the Shelburne Falls Food Security Plan may include research into the current foodshed of the village, which may inform the overall direction of the Community Food Project.
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Planning Process The student team from the Conway School of Landscape Design has worked closely with the Connecticut River Valley Institute (CCRVI) and the Apios Institute on this, the first phase of the Shelburne Falls Food Security Plan. The Plan will most likely be a multi-phased project that is expected to evolve in response to future political, social, and environmental conditions. In this report, immediate action steps and recommendations are made to guide later phases. Throughout the creation of this report, the design team received direct guidance from the clients as well as adhered to the
INTRODUCTION