Foodsheds and Regional Food Systems

Foodsheds and regional food systems concepts developed independently within multiple disciplines over the last one hundred years. This chapter summarizes the development of these and related concepts such as agroecology, complex adaptive systems, and polycentric governance. It discusses social and engineered technologies that address materials handling, data and information management, and governance in food systems. The chapter provides future directions for research and knowledge co-generation that have potential to break us free from path dependencies and support the re-negotiation of tradeoffs so that our food systems may be more resilient and equitable.