Keywords: urban anthropology; situational analysis; everyday life; Lomé
This paper presents the application of the situational approach to the study of urban communities. This approach is particularly useful for the study of everyday life and is closely linked to network analysis. After presenting the theoretical assumptions of the approach, the author analyses three cases of situations from his field research conducted in Lomé, the capital of Togo. It appears that situational analysis combined with structural analysis provides an adequate picture of urban life.
More...Keywords: night ethnography; urban anthropology; methodology; impression
In the presented article, I outline the issues related to the night-time aspects of research in a city, and more broadly, the night-time dimensions of anthropological research which , due to its scope and interdisciplinary nature, requires methodological reflection. In an impressionistic form, I outline the problem areas, referring them to both theoretical considerations contained in the literature on the subject and to my own research experience. The text consists of seven fragments, excursions and impressions that are related and correspond to each other on various levels of abstraction.
More...Keywords: methodology; urban anthropology; nature
In any urban space there are those elements of it that have not been produced by man. In studies conducted by urban anthropologists, nature is rarely the subject of analysis. In the case of such research, we are faced with the question of what methodologies and what tools can be helpful and what dictionary of terms would be useful for describing and interpreting the nature present in the city. In this article, I consider the possible usefulness of two well-known concepts – those posed by Marc Auge and Ulf Hannerz, for the study of such fragments of urban spaces that completely belong to nature; they co-create the urban fabric, but bear witness to the interference of nature in the urban area.
More...Keywords: opera; opera theatre; society
The theatre was not only an artistic institution, a focus for the most important achievements and trends in literature, music, visual arts and dance, but also a very important institution of social life, a space where one could show off, flirt, do business; in a word, the theatre was the place to visit. Opera was meant to enchant, dazzle and seduce. An opera performance was an extremely expensive investment. Singers, choristers, dancers and musicians had to be paid. Investments had to be made in machinery and special effects. The basic genres were classical opera and comic opera. These took different forms, particularly divergent in Italy and France.
More...Keywords: urban history; urban anthropology; urban sociology; interdisciplinary research; methodology of humanities; history of Łódź
The essay contains subjective reflection on the interconnections between the history of cities and anthropology and sociology, based on the author’s personal research experience, including research on the history of Łódź. According to the author, who in his career had episodes of close cooperation with both sociologists and cultural anthropologists, contemporary urban studies require close interdisciplinary cooperation. The author agrees with those historians and methodologists who criticise the too-rigid, idiographic approach to historical research. On the example of his own experience, he shows how inspiration from other sciences can improve the research workshop of a city historian and be an incentive to implement interdisciplinary research projects.
More...Keywords: anthropology; history; interdisciplinarity; Zbigniew Szmyt
The article concerns the connections between anthropology and history. The author describes the opportunities and threats related to interdisciplinarity present in these two sciences, refering to the subject of research, types of sources, methodologies and expected research results. The basis for the considerations is book Zbyt głośna historyczność. Użytkowanie przeszłości w Azji Wewnętrznej [Too Loud a Historicity. The Usable Past in Inner Asia] by Zbigniew Szmyt.
More...Keywords: ethnography, ethnology; cultural anthropology; University of Łódź; seat; relocation; history of the institution
The article presents the history of location and moving to new places of the current Institute of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology of the University of Łódź. Its subsequent seats from year 1945 to the present day are discussed. The text uses both archival documents and memories of employees and former students.
More...Keywords: sustainable agriculture;food production;food chain;bioeconomy;integrated farm management;
The current trend of the increasing human population as well as the evolution of consumption patterns, increasing food demand and growing amounts of food waste influence changes along the entire food chain, from agricultural systems and natural resources to processing. It is worth underlining that the agri-food industry is considered one of the most important sectors of economic development in the world. However, the increased demand for food is depleting natural resources, causing soil erosion, landscape biodiversity loss and environmental pollution worldwide, creating new challenges for food security and sustainable food production. Therefore, sustainable agriculture and new technologies and approaches play an increasingly significant rolein reducing negative environmental impacts while ensuring food safety. It stays in line with the model of food production development promoted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, according to which sustainable agriculture means the production of healthy, high-quality food in an environmentally friendly way, caring for animal welfare and protecting biodiversity, as well as ensuring income for farmers. This approach is also consistent with many concepts focused on the issue of sustainable, eco-friendly food production, such as development of sustainable agriculture, the One Health concept, Climate-Smart Agriculture, the European Green Deal and the Farm to Fork Strategy, strongly emphasising efforts to create a healthier and more sustainable food system.
More...Keywords: sustainable farming;European Union;environment;low carbon;Wielkopolska;
The conviction that farm development depends not only on the economic dimension but also on the environment as well as the social dimension, is increasingly widespread. The purpose of this study was to assess the interaction between the economic, social and environmental fields of agricultural activity and to identify cause-and-effect relationships between the aforementioned dimensions on the basis of family farms in Wielkopolska. The study was based on a literature review and the results of surveys conducted among 120 farms in the Wielkopolska region of Poland. Having applied structural equation modelling analysis, the authors discovered that there are significant mutual positive relations between the economic, social and environmental spheres in the analysed farms. Thus, those relationships can be complementary to each other. The presented research indicates the need to always consider agriculture as a broad and complex economic, social and environmental system, as the European Union already does, and to adjust policies according to the region’s peculiarities and its unique features. Simultaneously, one should aim to achieve multiple and diversified goals in agriculture.
More...Keywords: Industry 4.0;Quality 4.0;Agri-food 4.0;digitalisation;quality management;
The progress of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (called Industry 4.0) is driven by the development of cutting-edge digital technologies. Digital transformation is changing not only the manner of production, but also the definition of quality and the manner of quality management. The idea of Quality 4.0 refers both to the development of new technologies for quality assurance and control, as well as to changes in the culture of quality management. Industry 4.0 technologies are increasingly used in food production, leading to the development of Agri-food 4.0. They serve, for example, to control and implement production using automatic machines and robots. Invasive or remote sensors are used to monitor the environment, crops, farming conditions, processing operations and products throughout the entire supply chain. The use of the Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing enables advanced planning, control and optimisation of production. The use of digital technologies in the agri-food industry positively affects the quality and safety of food and has a positive impact on the efficiency of enterprises. At the same time, digital transformation is an opportunity to develop sustainable practices throughout the food supply chain. In this chapter, we present the idea of Industry 4.0 and Quality 4.0 as well as examples of the use of digital technologies in the agri-food sector.
More...Keywords: sustainable food;sustainable packaging design;active packaging;intelligent packaging;design for recycling;
The chapter generally presents a new approach to the design of packaging and packaging materials that supports food sustainability. Concern for environmentally friendly packaging and packaging materials drives the development of their design for recycling and increasing popularity of reusable packaging. Food sustainability is also one of the main prerequisites in the packaging optimum approach and ensuring product accessibility via its packaging applied in the supply chain. Active packaging systems allow for extending the shelf life of food, and intelligent packaging supports the reduction of food waste and losses. Modern solutions for automatic data collection, such as RFID tags and geolocation systems, can also support the management of data on food products in logistics. The chapter presents successively new approaches to packag ingdesign, design for recycling, reusable packaging, and smart packaging solutions supporting food sustainability.
More...Keywords: circular economy;life cycle assessment;sustainable product;food system;
The circular economy concept aims to create value for society and the economy while reducing environmental impacts. The circular economy is based on three principles driven by design—eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. These principles can be applied to the food system, across all aspects of food design, from product concept, through ingredient selection and sourcing, to packaging. In order to assess the environmental load of any process or product in the food system, life cycle based-tools should be applied, since it can be beneficial and has potential for providing a holistic approach. This paper summarises the life cycle-based tools that have potential for complimenting the circular economy implementation in the food system. Based on that, the study identifies the current challenges as well as benefits and life cycle-based tools potential for providing a holistic approach that could strengthen available circular economy solutions.
More...Keywords: fruit by-products;sustainable food production;management of by-products;circular economy;
The main goal of this paper is to review sustainable strategies presented in the literature for managing fruit processing by-products according to the circular economy, which could be useful for companies. In the food processing of fruits, the waste can be utilised directly or indirectly. The direct utilisation of fruit waste does not ensure full valorisation and does not fully minimise the environmental impact. The most sustainable management for the full valorisation of fruit waste according to the circular economy is the indirect utilisation, which requires an energyintensive drying process before the biorefinery approach. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 12.3 promotes the reduction of food waste and food loss throughout the supply chain to achieve sustainable development by 2030, especially at retail and consumption levels. The fruit processing industry produces large amounts of by-products, mainly removed by landfilling or incineration. However, these methods cause emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and ammonia, and release dioxin into the environment. In addition, it causes a loss of valuable biomass and nutrients and an economic loss. The sustainable management of fruit processing by-products is important to reduce the amount of food waste deposited in landfills and to develop strategies through the irreuse for full valorisation and added economic value. The currently proposed biorefinery only focuses on partial valorisation of fruit waste, which is not completely compatible with the closedloop economy framework and economically feasible due to the low-efficiency bioprocesses. Therefore, there is a need for sustainable conception in the biorefinery approach, which can provide full valorisation of fruit waste according to the circular economy.
More...Keywords: sustainable nutrition;dietary guideline;diet quality;environmental impact;
The main challenge of our time is, on the one hand, malnutrition or the increasing number of overweight and obese people, and on the other hand, degradation of the environment and natural resources as a result of production. There is an urgent need to promote well-balanced and safe diets that have a low negative impact on the environment, while being culturally acceptable and economically accessible to all. This chapter discusses the concept of a “sustainable healthy diet” in the context of international and national dietary guidelines as well as the environmental impact of production and consumption of selected food groups and types of dietary patterns.
More...Keywords: diet quality;environmental impact;meat alternative;meat-free;sociocultural acceptability;sustainable nutrition;vegan;vegetarian;
Elimination of animal-based products, often related to a vegetarian or vegan diet, is one of the most popular nutritional trends observed around the world. This chapter provides an overview of the assortment, market and consumption of various meat alternatives. Products replacing meat are made of various types of (mostly) plant-based raw materials including pulses/legumes, cereal proteins (mainly gluten), oilseeds, fungi (edible mushrooms) and algae; however, cultured meat and edible insects are also described. The market of meat alternatives was estimated at USD 10,11 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of minimum 15% by 2030. Europe has the largest share (52%) of the global market followed by North America (27%), Asia Pacific (12%), Latin America (6%) and Middle East and Africa (4%). The top producers are Beyond Meat, Boulder Brands, Hain Celestia, Nestlé, Garden Protein International, Vivera, Lightlife Foods, Woolworths, Naturli’ Foods and Sainsbury’s. Despite the fact that vegetarians and vegans constitute 6.4% and 6% of global consumers, respectively, more and more people are willing to either reduce the consumption of meat (62%) or animal-origin (42%) products. This is due to the fact that the consumption of meat-free products plays a role in sustainable development considering multiple health, economic and environmental issues.
More...Keywords: consumer awareness;sustainable food choices;nutrition labelling;front-of-pack label;date labelling;food waste prevention;
The information placed on labels is intended to serve consumers by providing them with information about composition, nutritional quality and shelf life of food products as well asto promote waste-prevention behaviour and support sustainable food systems. Even though consumers declare interest in the information on labels, their knowledge of the composition and nutritional value of the products and understanding of this information (e.g., nutritional factstable, minimum durability date: “best before”, and “use by” date) is often insufficient. European and international health institutions and societies are now placing great emphasis on developing clear and comprehensive information to consumers about the properties of food products and their impact on health, using legislative instruments and recommendations. The aim of this chapter is to discuss the latest research showing how food labelling can support consumers in their healthy and sustainable purchasing decisions.
More...Keywords: sustainable food consumption;consumer attitudes;bibliometric literature review;sustainability;
Sustainable food consumption is a crucial aspect of achieving a sustainable future. However, changing people’s attitudes towards food can be a difficult task. In this article, we will conduct a bibliometric literature review to explore the current state of research on shaping sustainable food consumption attitudes. The study uses a sample of 922 papers in various bibliometric analyses. The authors use citation and collaboration analysis to determine the most significant authors and journals, and examine the relationships between the main authors and institutions. Next, they conduct content analysis, using bibliographic coupling, to determine the main areasof research within sustainable food consumption attitudes. The chapter attempts to identify the most important authors, journals and trends in each field.
More...Keywords: food waste;household;food waste data;
Food waste is one of the major problems that humanity needs to solve. The gargantuan amount of food wasted each year, estimated at around 1 billion tonnes, creates a range of environmental, economic and ethical problems. Unfortunately, food is wasted to the greatest extent by households. To a lesser extent, food is wasted by producers or intermediaries. Therefore, the aim of this article is first and foremost to identify the causes of food waste by households. To do this,a conceptual framework has been adopted. It assumes that household food waste originates in three predictable stages—when shopping, storing and serving. In other words, households waste food because they do not prepare the food they purchase, they do not serve the food they prepare, and they do not consume the food they serve. The considerations in the paper are based on the available literature and secondary data.
More...Keywords: food redistribution system;food bank;social supermarkets;food sharing initiatives;food sharing platforms;
The main objective of this chapter is to present solutions designed in order to redistribute surplusfood as a food waste prevention tool. Food surpluses are generated both in supply chains andin households. This chapter presents the surplus food redistribution system structure in terms of entities included into it. Three main types of SFRS institutions will be presented: food banks operating both as front-line and warehouse entities, social supermarkets and food sharing systems, which work as initiatives based on some premises (physical places) where food may beleft and taken from, as well as initiatives operating thanks to Internet platforms. Three categories of these platforms are characterised in this chapter: the “sharing for money” model, which is primarily a B2C for-profit model to reduce waste and, at the same time, generate revenue, the “sharing for charity” model in which food is collected and given to non-profit organisations, and the “sharing for the community” model which is a B2C or C2C model where food is shared amongst consumers.
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