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| Volume 109(2) 2009, pages: 147-159. | | Hideharu Kurita, Makoto Yokohari & Jay Bolthouse: | The potential of intra-regional supply and demand of agricultural products in an urban fringe area: A case study of the Kanto Plain, Japan | | The increasingly global reach of industrial agricultural production
has progressively distanced consumers and producers. Not surprisingly,
opposition to the global food system commonly seeks to
re-localize agriculture by cutting the distance between agricultural
production and consumption. Analysis of potential foodsheds can
provide an important basis upon which to recover local systems of
production and consumption. Here, we examine the potential for municipal
and micro-level foodsheds in the greater Tokyo mega-region.
Similar to other large cities in Asia, the urban fringe of Tokyo has
extensive areas of mixed urban and agricultural land-uses which are
often seen as problematic, but which may have many merits from the
standpoint of sustainable foodsheds. Indeed, our results indicate that
many areas on the urban fringe of the Tokyo mega-region bear potential
to meet demand for both rice and vegetables within their borders.
Moreover, many people could meet their food needs within a short
distance of their residence. These results demonstrate the need to
examine the potential for micro-level foodsheds on the urban fringe. | | >> download as pdf |
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