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Circuits of calories: flows of food and energy in Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden 1960–1990

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 July 2009

Anne Buttimer  and
Taeke Stol
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Abstract

A dramatic increase in volumes of commodity flow during the latter part of the 20th century reflects the fulfilment of postwar ideals of economic growth, but also imply serious challenges to the social and ecological integrity of places and regions. The record of imports and exports of food and energy products for Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Sweden during the 1960–90 period illustrate some of the built-in contradictions between rhetoric and reality. Those very societies which proclaim definitions of sustainable development as the harmonization of economic, social and ecological values demonstrate—at national scales—ways of life which, according to these criteria, are not sustainable. Calorie counting at national and regional scales might offer useful catalysts for reflection on theoretical as well as practical dimensions of sustainable development.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Review , Volume 4 , Issue 3 , July 1996 , pp. 193 - 214
Copyright
Copyright © Academia Europaea 1996

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