Håkan Jönsson is the new coordinator for Food and Cities, an initiative to develop and communicate research and education at the intersection of food and city at SLU. ”There will be major research efforts in this field in the future, and SLU needs to be prepared and coordinated," says Håkan.
Food and Cities brings researchers from different disciplines together. The initiative aims to inspire collaborations around research applications and international collaborations. Why is it important to think about the cities and food of the future?
Since 2007, more people live in cities than in rural areas of the world, and the percentage of urban dwellers will only continue to increase. Since the beginning of October 2024, Håkan Jönsson is the new coordinator for the initiative Food and Cities, which is run by the future platforms SLU Future Food and SLU Urban Futures.
– Questions about how and what all these people should eat are therefore very important if we want a sustainable food system in the future. For a long time, the urban middle class has had an ability to define what is perceived as good food. The cities are therefore important both for fundamental issues around food supply and crisis management, as well as for values and social issues, says Håkan.
A lot is happening in this research area, both at SLU and in the rest of the world.
– It is very exciting to have received this assignment! I want to continue the work of bringing together researchers from different disciplines and communicating what is happening at SLU. I also want to initiate new research collaborations and projects. There will be major research efforts in the field in the future, and then it is important that we at SLU are prepared and coordinated.
– The most difficult thing will be to choose which activities will be most effective for those working with research and development of food and cities.
Håkan received his PhD in ethnology at Lund University in 2005 with the thesis "Milk - A cultural analysis of the dairy counter's new economy". In 2010, Håkan Jönsson became associate professor in ethnology. He has worked as a lecturer at Lund University and Lund University of Technology. Since 2021, he has been a visiting professor at the Department of People and Society at SLU. During the period 1988–1999, Håkan worked as a professional chef at Grand Hotel in Lund, among others.
Håkan's research has revolved around the view and development of gastronomy in Sweden. Mostly it has been about restaurants and shops, which are mainly located in cities. How restaurants define an urban environment, and how Sweden's restaurant policy meant that Swedish city centers had few and scattered restaurants is an example.
Håkan's previous experiences mean that he has a large network both nationally and internationally when it comes to food research in general, and when it comes to research and development around food and cities.
– This means that I believe I can contribute both with contacts and experiences. But I also look forward to collaborating more with those who know urban issues in depth. Since I have dealt a lot with the social and spatial aspects of eating, I also hope to be able to highlight issues around the city as eating space. How can we understand and develop good eating, not only in the form of getting enough nutrition, but as an arena for conversation and community across borders.
Getting researchers to work interdisciplinary is not always easy, what is Håkan's strategy?
– I have learned from experience that there must be a mutual feeling that a question is important, and that my own discipline only has part of the answer to that question. It is of course also great if there are funds to apply for to develop the research, and here things really look promising! Many calls for proposals at European level in the future are about issues that affect food and cities, concludes Håkan.