Assessing food balance of Mediterranean city-regions. A multi-level methodology to highlight interactions between land systems and food systems

In the current global context, characterized by urban growth and concerns about food security and safety, a "new food equation" emerges (Sonnino, 2014) examining the capacity of city-region food systems to feed the city and the possibilities of reconnecting production with consumption to increase food autonomy. Furthermore, the proximity of urban areas enhances the development of farming systems functionally linked to the city. Which land systems are being affected by these processes and which farming systems should be considered when enhancing local food systems? This challenge requests to think food systems in a multi-level approach. From a scientific point of view, there is still no clear method to link different levels of analysis while, at the same time and from an operational point of view, the linkage is needed to integrate the local vision from stakeholders into regional policies on food systems planning and vice versa. This is especially urgent in Mediterranean context, where food security is threatened by global change and urbanisation process We present here an original methodology to investigate the interactions of land systems and food systems focusing on local food supply and enabling thus the assessment of the food balance of city-regions (proportion of local-grow food that is consumed in a given place). We will develop an abductive reasoning with mixed methods: founded on literature review and on results of empirical research, we have developed a qualitative framework to analyse the food system at local level (NUTS-3). Then, we have developed a quantitative model connecting the local, regional and global (Western Mediterranean Basin) levels in a feedback process. The connection between local and WMB levels will be mainly made by the identification of the food system stakeholders’ capacity to develop proximity food systems enhancing local food supply. This methodology will be shortly tested in seven study-cases representative of the diversity of Mediterranean land systems.