A Food-Circular Economy-Women Nexus: Lessons from Guelph-Wellington

Resource nexus approaches have been expanding to include additional sectors beyond standard water, energy, and food approaches. Opportunities exist by re-imagining the resource nexus approach with the framework of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Emerging research and policy themes, such as the circular economy and gender, can provide additional context to traditional nexus arrangements. To illustrate this, we analyze SDG implementation and interaction from 40 unstructured interviews from SMEs participating in Guelph-Wellington’s Seeding Our Food Future (SOFF) program, part of the wider Our Food Future (OFF) initiative led by the City of Guelph and Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. Results show that 16/17 SDGs and associated targets were present on the program. Environmental SDGs were implemented the most, followed by social and economic ones. SDGs 2, 12, and 5 had the most general implementation and direct paired interactions and were associated with the broadest number of SDGs across the project. These findings support the existence of a Food-Circular Economy-Women nexus in Guelph-Wellington’s agri-food sector. Further analysis shows that this nexus is most active in agriculture, and that women are responsible for introducing a social aspect, which addresses food security. Results can inform food system and circular economy researchers and practitioners.