Place-Based Policies and Practices: Connecting Water, Land and People to Sustain Food Systems

Dr. Joanna Endter-Wada, Utah State University
October 25, 2013

Food production occurs in highly diverse contexts all over the globe, each with unique geographies and histories. Yet the common foundation is connecting water, land, and people to produce food. Stable and productive food systems depend not only on implementing on-farm scientific and technological innovations, but securing public support for agriculture to ensure its survival in larger landscape and societal transformations. Promoting policies and practices to protect and prioritize water and land for agricultural production requires place-based approaches that seek to harmonize the needs of farming, the environment, and growing cities. Research conducted on agricultural, wetland, and urban water uses in transitioning and urbanizing landscapes of the Great Salt Lake Watershed is presented to illustrate some of the challenges and opportunities involved in maintaining agriculture.