Nested Circularity – Localized Food in a Globalized World

Samenvatting (Engelstalig)

The use of fossil fuels and external nutrient inputs in food production have created a need for systems which will produce enough food for a growing population while simultaneously reducing the environmental impacts from food production. In order to move towards sustainability, the relatively short history of fossil fuel use in food production needs to be left in the past and food production returned to a reliance on renewable energy without food-fuel competition.

Through case studies, in the context of Finnish food systems, ranging in scale from a farm to a regional food system, this thesis provides a design for circular food production which relies on localized resources. In this design, biomass-energy-nutrients integration takes place at a feasible spatial scale that enables efficient nutrient recycling and integrated energy production. Informed by the results of this study, steps for moving toward circularity are proposed.