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Can Regional Organic Agriculture Feed the Regional Community? A Case Study for Hamburg and North Germany

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  • Joseph, Sarah
  • Peters, Irene
  • Friedrich, Hanno

Abstract

We compute degrees of food self-sufficiency for regions in North Germany with the city state of Hamburg at the centre, given different diets (the German average diet versus increasing substitution of legumes for meat) and production methods (conventional versus organic). Triangulating data of statistical databases, literature, and our own collection, we compute land footprints per capita and multiply by regional populations. Our findings indicate that there is great potential to feed the regional community surrounding Hamburg solely with regionally, organically grown foods, but this result depends on (1) composition of diets — specifically, the per capita meat consumption – and (2) agricultural area available in the defined region. On the basis of simplifying assumptions, the computation indicates an approximation of what is possible.

Suggested Citation

  • Joseph, Sarah & Peters, Irene & Friedrich, Hanno, 2019. "Can Regional Organic Agriculture Feed the Regional Community? A Case Study for Hamburg and North Germany," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:164:y:2019:i:c:38
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.05.022
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    2. Lenore Newman & Robert Newell & Colin Dring & Alesandros Glaros & Evan Fraser & Zsofia Mendly-Zambo & Arthur Gill Green & Krishna Bahadur KC, 2023. "Agriculture for the Anthropocene: novel applications of technology and the future of food," Food Security: The Science, Sociology and Economics of Food Production and Access to Food, Springer;The International Society for Plant Pathology, vol. 15(3), pages 613-627, June.
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    4. Mariana Filipe & Angela Lomba & João Pradinho Honrado & Andreia Saavedra Cardoso, 2023. "City-Region Food Systems and Biodiversity Conservation: The Case Study of the Entre-Douro-e-Minho Agrarian Region," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-23, March.
    5. Fritz Wittmann & Michael Eder, 2023. "Farmers facing changed urban dietary patterns: whether and what to adapt?," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 28(7), pages 1-26, October.

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