For Hunger-proof Cities: Sustainable Urban Food Systems

The 20th century has witnessed a massive growth in urban populations. In 1990, one-third of the world's people lived in cities of one million or more. As well, hunger and malnutrition are on the increase worldwide, as the global food system fails to satisfy the growing demand of the urban consumer.

For Hunger-proof Cities is the first book to fully examine food security from an urban perspective. It examines existing local food systems and ways to improve the availability and accessibility of food for city dwellers. It looks at methods to improve community-supported agriculture and cooperation between urban and rural populations. It explores what existing marketing and distribution structures can do to improve accessibility and what the emerging forms of food-distribution systems are, and how they can contribute to alleviating hunger in the cities. Finally, the book discusses the underlying structures that create poverty and inequality and examines the role of emergency food systems, such as food banks.

For Hunger-proof Cities includes contributions from farmers and professors, young activists and experienced business leaders, students and policymakers, and community organizers and practitioners. It will interest academics and students in sociology, politics, economics, environmental studies, social work, nutrition and dietetics, urban planning, and health sciences; practitioners in dietetics, nutrition, public health, and social services; community organizations and NGOs working in food systems; and governmental and international organizations working in food policy and food security.

The editors

Mustafa Koc is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, Canada, where he directs the Centre for Studies in Food Security.

Rod MacRae is Director of the Toronto Food Policy Council, Toronto, Canada. 

Luc J.A. Mougeot is Senior Program Specialist at the International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada. Dr Mougeot leads IDRC's program in urban agriculture: Cities Feeding People.

Jennifer Welsh is Professor and Director of the School of Nutrition, Ryerson Polytechnic University, Toronto, Canada.