Sustainable Food Systems: Working Towards a Fundamental Solution
Author: Howard Silverman, Ecotrust
November 2005
Intro
The Vivid Picture project describes a vision of a sustainable food system in the state of California in the year 2030 and proposes a change agenda for reaching that future. In order to foster a shared and explicit vision of strategies, we perform an exercise in detailed systems thinking, basing our efforts upon the approaches described in Peter Senge's The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization and associated workbooks.
We find that a close examination of historical storylines and causal loops allows us to better understand the emergence of both the mainstream conventional and niche sustainable food industries in the 20th century. We also find that applying the systems archetypes—as lenses, as pattern templates, and as dynamic theories—elucidates historical trends, structural perspectives, and prescriptions for action that may be useful in progress towards an integrated, sustainable food system. In the hope that this exercise can enable further discussion, we present three applications of systems archetypes and narratives: Limits to the Growth of the Conventional Food and Agriculture Industry, Limits to the Growth of the Modern Sustainable Food and Agriculture Industry, and Working towards a Fundamental Solution.
Download PDF version (146kb)
