Urban food security at the crossroads between metropolitan food planning and global trade: the case of the Antwerp–Rotterdam–Düsseldorf region

Abstract

Making use of Life Cycle Thinking, the Metropolitan Foodscape Planner (MFP) tool provides ecological footprint maps and supply/demand data showing a large potential for metropolitan food supplies. In the discussion, we examine these results in the light of recent research on the impacts of the prevailing global trade agro-food systems for the impact areas land use change, competition for space, biodiversity, and climate change, paying special attention to the Dutch approach toward global agro-food-chains. Finally, we put forward recommendations for developing sustainable foodscapes in metropolitan regions based on food-oriented spatial planning devices addressing aspects such as climate change, biodiversity, cross-border collaboration, food chain innovation, and footprint assessments.