The University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu’s Dr. Albie Miles is among the editors of a new e-book on food system resilience and equity, published by Frontiers, one of the most cited and largest research publishers in the world, and an open science platform.
The overall objective of the e-book, “Achieving food system resilience & equity in the era of global environmental change,” is “to provide an updated compendium of multidisciplinary analyses on the issue of food system resilience and equity,” said Miles, assistant professor of Sustainable Community Food Systems at UH West O‘ahu.
The e-book was published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, a journal that explores the intersection of food systems, science, and practice of sustainability, including its environmental, economic, and social justice dimensions.
“Achieving food system resilience & equity in the era of global environmental change” is among the Frontiers Research Topics, popular trademarks of the Frontiers journals series that are collections of at least ten articles, all centered on a particular subject.
“The special topic on food system resilience and equity is significant in that it attempts to capture a range of international and indigenous perspectives, multi-disciplinary scientific analysis, and technical approaches to building food system resilience and equity in context of global ecological change, anticipating future impacts to the agri-food system,” Miles said.
He noted that the special topic has been viewed and read over 135,000 times from readers all over the world; the e-book and all its individual articles are available for download at no charge.
Miles worked in collaboration with co-editors Drs. Valarie Blue Bird Jernigan (Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences), Philip Dobie (World Agroforestry Centre, Kenya), Anja Gassner (World Agroforestry Centre, Kenya), Casey Hoy (Ohio State University), Noa Kekuewa Lincoln (UH Mānoa), Kathleen Merrigan (Arizona State University), Jennifer Sowerwine (University of California, Berkeley), and Samina Raja (University at Buffalo).
Among the articles in the e-book is, “Editorial: Achieving food system resilience and equity in the era of global environmental change,” authored by Miles and Hoy.
“We are facing unprecedented ecological and social challenges, driven in part by the food and agricultural system,” Miles said. “The food system must be transformed in order to promote health, social equity, climate resilience and ecological sustainability, and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.”
He continued, “With the possibility of significant destabilization of the Earth’s climate system this century, educators, researchers, NGO leaders, planners, and elected officials must work together on transdisciplinary research, education, state and regional food system planning and policy efforts toward building more healthy, equitable, resilient, and ecologically sustainable food systems that are strategically aligned with state, national, and UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
Miles noted that attempts to move Hawai‘i in this direction are accelerating and include Transforming Hawai‘i’s Food System Together, an initiative that Miles is a part of and that seeks to build statewide capacity and pave the way for a more robust, sustainable and resilient food system, especially in times of crisis; his related research projects on household emergency food storage and food system data analytics with Dr. Konstantinos Zourgris, associate professor of Sociology at UH West O‘ahu; the UH-led $40m collaborative research and market development initiative on climate smart commodities production; the monthly speakers series “The Future of Food and Agriculture in Hawai‘i”; as well as Hawai‘i House Bill 308, a food system planning bill that was front of the state legislature this year, but did not pass.
In addition to Miles’ Frontiers e-book and recent article, he is now serving as Specialty Chief Editor of the Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems section, “Social Movements, Institutions and Governance.” The first and soon-to-be released special research topic under his editorial leadership will be on Food System Transformation & the Realization of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.