from the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development |
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JAFSCD peer-reviewed article by Mosen Farhangi (IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute), Harald Rohracher (Linköping U), Nevin Cohen and Rosîta Ilieva (both at The City U of New York), Meike Brückner and Suse Brettin (both at Humbolt U of Berlin), and Esther Veen (Wageningen U)
Digitalization, including mobile apps, cloud technologies, GPS tracking, and artificial intelligence, has changed consumers’ food provisioning, defined as the practices of selecting, buying, obtaining, sharing, and preparing food. Food provisioning has changed in terms of the services offered and provided, the way food is delivered (including the organization of delivery work), and the practices of food consumption. New forms of online grocery shopping, digital platform-based meal delivery services, digital choice emergency food pantries, and peer-to-peer food sharing apps have reconfigured the previously established food provisioning system.
In the JAFSCD article Digitalization of food provisioning: A scoping review of social implications and pathways to equitable futures, the authors examine research that has been conducted on the last-mile delivery of food, focusing on the food provisioning process as mediated by digital platforms. This includes how food is selected, purchased, and delivered to consumers, emphasizing the role of digital platforms in shaping these practices. By concentrating on these digitally mediated processes, the paper explores their social implications within the broader context of digital food systems.
Corresponding author Mosen Farhangi can be contacted at mosen.farhangi@ivl.se.
KEY FINDINGS Three types of social impacts of digital food provisioning (DFP) were identified: - Consumption practices: DFP offers opportunities for sustainable consumption and increased access to healthy food, particularly for mobility-restricted individuals. However, it also presents challenges, such as the potential to reinforce unhealthy consumption habits and exacerbate nutritional inequalities.
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Labor conditions: The digitalization of food provisioning has also altered labor structures in the food retail sector, leading to precarious work environments and a lack of worker protection.
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Social relations: While DFP can empower some groups, it can also lead to the exclusion of others, particularly those lacking the necessary digital skills or resources, or living in areas with limited digital infrastructure.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR POLICY, PRACTICE, AND RESEARCH -
Local governments can play a crucial role by ensuring fair working conditions for delivery workers, setting policies that guarantee fair wages and benefits, and promoting responsible platform practices.
- Nonprofits and community organizations should explore ways to use digital tools to expand food assistance, such as app-based food pantries or e-voucher systems that make it easier for vulnerable populations to access nutritious food.
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Local food businesses and cooperatives can build community-driven digital marketplaces that connect small farmers directly with consumers, ensuring fair pricing and reduced reliance on major food platforms that often prioritize profit over social good.
- Food recovery initiatives can use digital platforms to match surplus food from restaurants and grocery stores with food banks and community kitchens, thereby reducing waste while addressing food insecurity.
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How can we build a better, more equitable food system in the age of food digitization? In a new are JAFSCD article, authors look at the intersection of governance, nonprofits, local food businesses, and food recovery initiatives. #digitalization #lastmiledelivery #digitalfoodprovisioning Read the full @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.143.017
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Photo above: The photographer’s first successful use of Instacart, in April 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. Photo by Dennis Sylvester Hurd via Flickr and in the public domain. |
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The food supply chain plays a fundamental role in human society, making its sustainable transformation a crucial issue. The significant impact of COVID-19 has further emphasized the importance of developing a sustainable food supply chain.
Sustainability transitions cannot be driven by policy alone; bottom-up initiatives from local stakeholders are equally essential. Despite the growing body of literature on sustainable food supply chain management, one key aspect remains under explored: the role of place identity in shaping bottom-up stakeholder engagement in sustainability practices.
In the commentary Rethinking sustainable food supply chains: The role of stakeholders' place identity, the authors explore how local food supply chain stakeholders’ place identity influences their engagement in sustainable actions within their supply chains. Furthermore, they explore how place identity can serve as a foundation for integrating agri-food education with the tourism industry to foster sustainable food supply chains. These insights suggest that stakeholder-driven, bottom-up changes may offer an opportunity to reconsider the relationship between people and place (or land) in the development of a sustainable food supply chain.
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In JAFSCD's latest commentary, authors advocate for deeper interdisciplinary collaboration between human geography and a sustainable food supply chain. This study explores the role of place identity in sustainability transitions in Taiwan's food supply chain. #Taiwan #foodsupplychain #sustainablefoodsupplychain #tourism Read the full @JAFSCD article for free: https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2025.143.005
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Photo above: Food in Taiwan. Photo by Flickr user Walking Life and used under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0. |
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The cover image represents the University of Kentucky's innovative employee-benefit community supported agriculture (CSA) program, which provides a voucher to offset the cost for employees and retirees. |
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Books Available for Review
Need some summer reading and like to review one and share your thoughts with JAFSCD’s readers? Fill out the quick review query form linked on our home page (right margin, Engage with JAFSCD > Propose a Book Review). You can also use the form to suggest other films, books, or reports for review. The selected reviewer will receive free access to the film or the book (hard copy or e-book).
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How to Create a Sustainable Food Industry, by Melissa Barrett, Massimo Marino, Francesca Brkic, and Carlo Alberto Pratesi
From the publisher:
"This book presents a practical guide to help businesses navigate the complex topics of sustainability in the food industry. The book takes you on a journey along the food value chain, from farm to fork, exploring key opportunities to increase positive impacts and circularity at each step of the journey. Written by a team of authors with decades of experience in the food industry and academia, it provides guidance on how to analyze sustainability across the value chain and life cycle of a food product and how to design, implement and communicate strategies to customers. Furthermore, the book shows that there are not always straightforward solutions, but rather choices and trade-offs that require an understanding of what is best suited to the product, customers and business in question."
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Junk Food Politics: How Beverage and Fast Food Industries Are Reshaping Emerging Economies, by Eduardo J. Gómez
From the publisher:
"Why do sugary beverage and fast food industries thrive in the emerging world? ... Despite government commitment to eradicating noncommunicable diseases and innovative prevention programs aimed at reducing obesity and type 2 diabetes, sugary beverage and fast food industries are thriving. But political leaders in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, India, China, and Indonesia are reluctant to introduce policies regulating the marketing and sale of their products, particularly among vulnerable groups like children and the poor. Why?"
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The Quinoa Bust: The Making and Unmaking of an Andean Miracle Crop, by Emma McDonell
From the publisher:
"Quinoa rose to global stardom pitched as an unparalleled sustainable development opportunity that heralded a bright future for rural communities devastated by decades of rural-urban migration, civil war, and state neglect. The Quinoa Bust is based in a longitudinal ethnography centered around . . the main quinoa production area in the world’s chief quinoa exporting country. This book traces the social, ecological, technological, and political work that went into transforming a humble Andean grain into a development miracle crop and also highlights that project’s unintended consequences. . . . At a time when so-called forgotten foods are increasingly positioned as sustainable development tools, The Quinoa Bust offers a cautionary tale of fleeting benefits and ambivalent results."
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Be part of a sustainable solution!
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This six-course online program critically examines contemporary food systems through a sustainability lens, systems thinking, and real-world change. Explore food systems reform, grassroots movements, and community engagement, culminating in an applied community capstone course to help shape a more sustainable future where you live.
Explore KPU’s SFSS program | |
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Iowa State University Local Food Festival
Wednesday, September 24, 2025 9:30 am–1:30 pm | Central Campus, Ames, Iowa
Celebrate local food and healthy living at the ISU Local Food Festival. This FREE annual event centers around incorporating local foods into your daily meals, empowering healthy lifestyles, and sustainability-focused activities to engage students, faculty and staff to make connections with Ames and nearby communities.
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