Food

From rooftop gardens to hospital courtyards, cities are reimagining their relationship with food through urban farming. What began as small community projects has grown into a movement that brings resilience and sustainability into everyday life. With initiatives ranging from skyscraper farms to aquaponics systems in public spaces, urban food production is gaining ground. 

Indonesian Tempe Movement (ITM), an organization founded by a three-generation food scientists in Indonesia, has rediscovered the centuries old traditional food – Tempe – and explored the use of different types of leaves in wrapping it. Although modernity has swept across all aspects of life, including food consumptions, many regions in Indonesia still face significant challenges related to malnutrition particularly growth stunting due to economic and natural factors. 

The reflections on health-nutrition-ecology relationships through food and farming bring us to never questioned before reality in organic farming as well as the accessibility of foods to those who grow them – the smallholder farmers, and the majority of consumers. This reflective journey sheds light on the pivotal role they play in forging a sustainable and interconnected future, urging us to reconsider our approach to food and agriculture.

Food as a commons has been an emerging issue over the past decade. As the UN Food Systems Summit takes place, will the future of food be able to incorporate systems thinking and continue building stronger institutions? Hans van Willenswaard reviews the history of this movement and current steps in the direction of awareness, responsibility and the middle ground in taking up ‘food citizenship’.