The Department of Geography and Environmental Studies presents Founders Seminar, which will be held this Wednesday March 15th at 3pm in A410 Loeb. Dr. Tammara Soma from the University of Toronto will be giving a talk about “(Re)framing the food waste narrative: The infrastructures of urban food consumption and food waste in Indonesia.”
Abstract:
Current literature on food waste often distinguishes between food wastage in the global North and global South. The distinction is drawn from the argument that food waste predominantly occurs at the consumer stage in the global North, while in the global South, food is wasted primarily at the agricultural stage due to lack of technology. However, this argument fails to take into account that rapid urbanization, a growing middle class, and the proliferation of modern hypermarkets are transforming the patterns of urban household food consumption and food waste generation in countries such as Indonesia. In this talk, I explore the patterns of food consumption and food waste management between households of diverse incomes, and demonstrate the intersection between food waste generation and the rise of modern food retail. I argue that an understanding of the spatial transformation in rapidly urbanizing cities is critical to promote contextually relevant food waste reduction policies.
Contact info: tammara.soma@mail.utoronto.ca