A social-ecological approach to understanding urban food systems

Delivering sustainable and healthy food for all in urban areas requires inter- and transdisciplinary frameworks that account for the complexity of social-ecological interactions configuring highly diverse urban food systems. However, despite the increasing urbanization of our planet and the degradation of its ecological base, studies of urban food systems have largely overlooked critical urban and social-ecological elements, including political aspects inherent to their potential transformation. To address these gaps, we develop the social-ecological urban food systems (SUFOS) framework based on a critical literature review. The SUFOS framework constitutes an innovative proposal that integrates critical contributions of urban social-ecological systems literature into the understanding and analysis of urban food systems, supporting a perspective shift that centers the ecological, political, and urban dimensions and their complex temporal and spatial relations at the heart of urban food systems analysis. The framework identifies four interconnected subsystems that shape urban food systems and their outcomes: governance dynamics, networked resource flows, urban infrastructure and form, and social-ecological dynamics. We discuss the potential application and limitations of the framework to support comprehensive urban food systems analysis and guide more effective interventions. Urban food systems scholarship is a dynamic field that continues to attract diverse disciplines, perspectives, and methods, and the SUFOS framework constitutes a significant step in fostering a productive dialogue between the urban social-ecological and food systems communities to address both academic and pressing societal challenges.