Urban food cultures. Towards an integrated approach of the urban food system

This introduction to the thematic issue Urban Food Cultures: Towards an Integrative Approach to the Urban Food System is an invitation to further widen the perspective of urban food culture research. The understanding of urban food cultures should start from an integrated exploration of food practices in every part of the urban food system: from food production and processing to retail and consumption and to disposal, potential circular reuse, recycling to upcycling of food and its ingredients. Investigating the different aspects of the urban food system helps nuance the too self-evident town-country and local-global dichotomies often dominant in previous research. Interdisciplinary and integrated approaches to urban food systems may help bridge both knowledge gaps and offer relevant insights for many of the future challenges urban food systems face.