The Future of Urban Food (FOOD) - Scenarios of urban agro-food systems and their eco-economic impacts for the case of Vienna

The research project "The Future of Urban Food" started in 2018 and lasted four years. The main objective of this project was to investigate the impact of changes in the urban food system and urban food preferences on agriculture in the hinterland and thereby contribute to a social discourse on the future development of urban food systems. To this end, we used the city of Vienna as a case study to explore changes in three dietary patterns: reduced consumption of meat, increased consumption of organic food, and increased consumption of regional food.

We integrated perspectives and knowledge from different disciplines (socio -ecology, economy, and sociology) and worked together with actors from Vienna’s urban food system. An advisory board (i.e., a group of representatives from the private sector, city administration, interest groups and civil society) critically accompanied the project steps with advice and specific information. This approach allowed us to create a deeper multi-perspective understanding of the structure and dynamics of Vienna’s urban food system and to untangle the complex issue of sustainable food consumption patterns.

First, we identified the structure and key characteristics of Vienna’s urban food system through literature analysis and interviews with experts, ending up in a food system model. We identified relevant leverage points for enabling change towards sustainability in VUFS. Some of these characteristics were predictable and widely researched like consumption practices but others were more context-specific and underexplored like the density of retailers, food markets or food governance dynamics. We also explored innovative Viennese food initiatives and selected three case studies for a more in-depth analysis through interviews (an insect farm, a zero -waste supermarket , and a community -supported agriculture initiative).

Second, we assessed how changes in food preferences would affect the land footprint and green-house gas (GHG) emissions related to the urban food system. We found that a shift in diets towards a lower consumption of animal products has the potentially largest effect. However, this is an option of limited popularity among Viennese urban consumers and regional farmers as the results from surveys have confirmed. In contrast, the regionalization of Vienna’s urban food system, which is promoted by policy makers and retailers alike and popular among farmers and consumers according to our surveys’ results, has only a moderate impact on GHG emissions. A shift towards products from organic farming, which is also promoted but less favoured by consumers, performs best in combination with a dietary change towards less animal-based food. This combination would help to avoid expanding the land footprint of organic farming while realizing its broad ecological benefits.

Finally, we used these insights to create future scenarios to illustrate the pros and cons of various bundles of measures and transition pathways. For example, locally adapted food supply, which would require consumption patterns adapted to local production, would need the targeted expansion of urban logistics structures for the storage and distribution of locally produced food. While urban food actors have only limited instruments at hand to directly implement such measures, city governments are important economic actors which can support demand side changes, e.g. through public food procurement in schools, hospitals or public canteens.