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As part of sustainable agricultural innovations and the alternative food movement, agroecology provides important tools to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Yet very few existing studies have explicitly addressed their linkages. Synergies among the SDGs are often examined at the national level, overlooking nuanced opportunities revealed by small agroecology initiatives at the local scale. Based on literature review, field visits and semi-structured interviews with farms and relevant organizations in China, this research investigates how locally embedded agroecology practices lead to advancement of multiple SDG targets and facilitate the synergies among the SDGs. It also highlights their motivations, achievements, and challenges. We argue that the technocentric metrics of SDGs underappreciate the application of traditional knowledge and small-scale low-tech innovations. By bringing visibility to low-tech and small agroecology initiatives, this paper advocates for stronger inclusion of grassroots agroecology initiatives in SDG discussions among researchers and policy makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

TWO THOUSAND KILOMETRES away from Shanghai, in China's western hinterland, lies the prosperous city of Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan (formerly spelled Szechuan) province, with a population of 14 [...]

Motivation: Detailed empirical work on the impact of the COVID‐19 pandemic on food security is scant. Local management of food security has received little attention. Purpose: This article describes emergency food policies in Wuhan and Nanjing, China during lockdown in 2020 and their implications for household food security in the two cities. Methods and approach: Policy documents and background data describe the emergency measures. Online surveys of residents of two Chinese cities were used to gauge household food security. Findings: Despite the determined efforts of provincial and city governments to ensure that food reached people who were locked down in Wuhan, or subject to restrictions on movement in Nanjing, households experienced some decline in food security. Most households found they could not access their preferred foods. But a minority of households did not get enough to eat. Government had contingency plans for the pandemic that ensured that most people had sufficient, if not preferred, food. But not all households were fully covered. Policy implications: A more resilient system of food distribution is needed, including a relatively closed and independent home delivery system. Grassroots organizations such as residential community committees, property management organizations, and spontaneous volunteer groups need to be brought into the management of emergency food provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embeddedness has long been used to study collaborations and tensions between food initiatives, but less attention has been paid to this topic in both the vertical and formal contexts of governmental systems and the horizontal and vernacular contexts of local culture. Such interrogations are essential for understanding the challenges for advancing food initiatives. This study uses the case of ecological agriculture in Nanjing, China to investigate the vertical embeddedness shaped by policy networks and horizontal embeddedness carved into local social configurations. We conclude that strong government supports facilitated large-scale modern ecological agriculture enterprises, at the expense of small-scale ecological farms. Furthermore, the tensions between new farmers and local farmers attributed to the broad urban-rural divide also impede recently established ecological farm operations. Strategies are needed to address these social divides between ecological farms in order for them to be collaborative in China and in other similar social-political settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a survey of 1,210 households in Nanjing, China, the article looks at the purchasing frequency of various food items in different food retail outlets, the accessibility of these outlets and the use of different food sources. We found that while supermarkets are the top venues for purchasing staple grains, dairy products and processed food, wet markets still prevail for purchasing fresh produce and meat. The data also depict the complexity of food sources beyond conventional retailing outlets. We recommend that Chinese food security policies be broadened to incorporate urban food environment considerations and diverse food sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food safety has become an increasingly pressing sociopolitical issue in China due to the outbreak of food safety scandals since the 2000s. Existing studies have highlighted the socio-economic context of this issue, its drivers and implications. Yet, few studies have examined the perceptions of food safety conditions and strategies undertaken by consumers in their daily lives to cope with the challenge. Based on a city-wide survey of 1210 households and 36 interviews in Nanjing, China, this research adopts an ‘everyday’ perspective of analysis to investigate Nanjing residents’ perceptions of, and strategies to cope with, the food safety challenge. Perceptions include the severity of the food safety problem, the least safe foods, as well as causes and responsibilities. Coping strategies include various approaches to food access and food preparation. This article also compares the validity of potential sources of trust in food. On the one hand, the study demonstrates how the structural changes in China’s food system (i.e. chemical intensive food production and elongated food supply chains) constitute the major problems and causes of food safety issues. On the other hand, it reveals the considerable latitude within which Nanjing residents proactively exercise their agency when facing food safety challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]