True cost accounting for food : balancing the scale / edited by Barbara Gemmill-Herren, Lauren E. Baker and Paula A. Daniels.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction: The Urgency of Now -- SECTION 1: The Power and Potential of True Cost Accounting -- 1. From Practice to Policy: New Metrics for the 21st Century -- 2. Cotton in Egypt: Assisting Decision-Makers to Understand Costs and Benefits -- 3. Upstream, Downstream: Accounting for the Environmental and Social Value of Water in the Andes -- SECTION 2: Thinking Systemically -- 4. Methods and Frameworks: The Tools to Assess Externalities -- 5. Health Impacts: The Hidden Costs of Industrial Food Systems -- SECTION 3: From the Field -- 6. Harmonizing the Measurement of On-Farm Impacts -- 7. Incentives to Change: The Experience of the Organic Sector -- 8. Transforming the Maize Treadmill: Understanding Social, Economic, and Ecological Impacts -- 9. Fostering Healthy Soils in California: Farmer Motivations and Barriers -- SECTION 4: For the Public Good -- 10. The Real Cost of Unhealthy Diets -- 11. True Cost Principles in Public Policy: How Schools and Local Government Bring Value to Procurement -- 12. Embedding TCA Within US Regulatory Decision-Making -- 13. International Policy Opportunities for True Cost Accounting in Food and Agriculture -- SECTION 5: Through the Value Chain -- 14. The Business of TCA: Assessing Risks and Dependencies Along the Supply Chain -- 15. Investing in the True Value of Sustainable Food Systems -- SECTION 6: To the Table -- 16. Trade-Offs: Comparing Meat and the Alternatives -- 17. Dining Out: The True Cost of Poor Wages -- 18. True Price Store: Guiding Consumers -- Conclusion: Mobilizing the Power and Potential of True Cost Accounting -- Index

"This book explains how True Cost Accounting is an effective tool we can use to address the pervasive imbalance in our food system. Calls are coming from all quarters that the food system is broken and needs a radical transformation. A system that feeds many yet continues to create both extreme hunger and diet-related diseases, and one which has significant environmental impacts, is not serving the world adequately. This volume argues that True Cost Accounting in our food system can create a framework for a systemic shift. What sounds on the surface like a practice relegated to accountants is ultimately a call for a new lens on the valuation of food and a new relationship with the food we eat, starting with the reform of a system out of balance. From the true cost of corn, rice and water, to incentives for soil health, the chapters economically compare conventional and regenerative, more equitable farming practices in and food system structures, including taking an unflinching look at the true cost of cheap labour. Overall, this volume points towards the potential for our food system to be more human-centred than profit-centred and one that has a more respectful relationship to the planet. It sets forth a path forward based on True Cost Accounting for food. This path seeks to fix our current food metrics, in policy and in practice, by applying a holistic lens that evaluates the actual costs and benefits of different food systems, and the impacts and dependencies between natural systems, human systems, agriculture and food systems. This volume is essential reading for professionals and policymakers involved in developing and reforming the food system, as well as students and scholars working on food policy, food systems and sustainability"-- Provided by publisher.