INTRODUCTION TO SECTION 2: Food and nutrition security

From the perspective of food and nutrition security, the history of the rise and fall of cities is a history of their changing relationships with the landscapes upon which they depend and with the rural workers who manipulate those landscapes in order for them to grow food. The theme of food and nutrition security speaks most directly to the United Nations’ sustainable development goal Zero Hunger. Climate change effects are felt beyond production, as extreme weather events come to disrupt other aspects of the food system, such as transport, storage, and distribution networks. Despite food systems’ contributions to worsening climate change issues, they hold great promise to make significant remediating contributions. From the perspective of sustainability, it is crucial that the flows of nutrients that the food system mobilizes at whatever scale are recycled in a closed system circular economy and within a carbon-neutral energy budget. The chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.