Long-term Sustainability THROUGH Place-Based, Small-scale Economies Small-Scale Economies Project Approaches from Historical Ecology

Research objectives

This project examines the importance of place-based, small-scale and diversified economies for the long-term sustainability of human societies.

Our working hypothesis is that a highly specialized subsistence strategy can support a larger community for a short period, but a decrease in subsistence and food diversity makes the subsistence system and its associated community more vulnerable in the long-run. Archaeological, historical and paleoenvironmental studies will be used to test this hypothesis. To link these studies with the present discussion of the scale and methods of alternative food systems, ethnographic and ecological studies of contemporary small-scale food systems and communities will be conducted. In combination, studies of the past and present will point to the future, as the research process also involves the collaborative design of ecologically sound and equitable food systems.

Research fields

Our regional focus is the North Pacific Rim. In particular, we have identified northern Japan, with its solid archaeological record and its importance in contemporary food production, as the core area of our field research.

The West Coast of North America, with rich traditions of ethnographic and ecological investigation as well as active contemporary food/agriculture movements, will provide comparative case studies. These two regions share a number of characteristics in common, including climate, vegetation, fauna and a high level of seismic activity. There are also cultural ties with historical depth as a result of the migration of anatomically modern humans after the late Pleistocene. Historically, the abundance of small-scale economies supported by marine food exploitation (e.g. salmon and herring) and intensive nut-collecting also characterize these two regions.

In Japan, the economic recession and birth rate decline since the 1990s has led to persistent questions of the possibility and desirability of continuing economic growth. The vulnerability of relying on food and goods associated with a large-scale economy and long-distance transportation became particularly eminent shortly after the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011, when the distribution networks of staple foods, including bread, rice and milk, were severely damaged for several weeks. In San Francisco, Los Angeles and many other places on the West Coast of North America, grass-roots movements that endeavor to support smaller-scale food production are particularly active.

Together, studies of both sides of the North Pacific Rim will provide insightful results for future alternative food production strategies.

Research Plan

Implementation, Outreach and Policy Proposal Group

Preparations for this research group are still at their nascent stage. Discussions for the following sub-projects are in progress: 1) an Eco-literacy project with a focus on cherry salmon, 2) a collaboration with small-scale farmers in the 3.11 disaster area, including vegetable oil producers in Tochigi and Fukushima, and 3) urban farmer field schools in collaboration with educational programs in UC Berkeley.