When dealing with the sustainability of food systems, the spatial dimension merits particular attention. On the one hand, growing urbanisation and urban sprawl in different parts of the world raise questions regarding the sustainability of food supply systems for urban populations. On the other hand, the location of different activities in food systems has a strong effect on the environmental assessment of food systems.

This chapter is distinctive from current scientific literature insofar as the sustainability of food systems is analysed, first, in terms of food supplies to cities, and second, by focusing on location strategies relative to production, processing and distribution activities linked to urban dynamics.

Sustainably feeding large cities: a major challenge

The challenges of food sustainability cannot be fully understood without taking account of the spatial dynamics of consumption, distribution, processing and production activities in different countries of the world. On the one hand, changes to diets and consumption practices have exerted a major impact on the spatial organisation of the agricultural and food sectors and hence on greenhouse gas emissions and the amount of energy consumed for the shipment of commodities.

A large proportion of foods are produced today by industrial chains that are confronted by numerous challenges. Like all industries, they need to integrate new requirements relative to the environment and sustainability into their activities. Yet they are also subject to major trends, affecting both final consumption and agricultural production. Indeed, on the one hand, consumers (or at least some of them) are expressing new demands relative to food and how it is produced. On the other hand, current trends at the agricultural level may suggest possible changes in the availability, supply regularity and prices of agricultural raw materials. Finally, the competition in which companies are involved at national, European or international levels raises questions as to evolution in their medium and longer term competitiveness.

The aim of this chapter is to review some of the important features of past evolutions and of the technological and economic ‘model’ upon which they were based. It is thus ‘agri-industrial systems’, as defined in Chapter 4, which are addressed here. We will then try to identify, in terms of sustainability, the principal challenges faced by these industrial chains, and finally to clarify a certain number of important themes that need to be investigated in future research programmes in order to enlighten public and private decision-making in this field.