Foodshed as an Example of Preliminary Research for Conducting Environmental Carrying Capacity Analysis

Since the 1960s, we have had to face challenging problems in relation to uncontrolled urban development, the destruction of farmlands, and the need to protect natural resources. These challenges are still valid, particularly since dynamic increases in population, especially in cities, have created an increasing need for natural resources. Therefore, the spatial management of the city should take into account the actual use of resources by its inhabitants, as well as the availability of resources within a city and its surrounding suburban areas. Such surveys could be conducted in order to ensure that the basic needs and safety of the residents are met, i.e., in the context of food security. Thus, we recommend a tool that allows specifying the geographical area of food supply: the foodshed. We determined the foodshed based on the relationship between the places of food production and its consumption. Therefore, we delimitated the extent of foodshed area for the city of Wrocław, which reached ca. 56 km. Our work expanded the determination of foodshed boundaries by the delimitation of the city’s foodshed zones, and provided a more detailed analysis of the obtained product data. We obtained data about 98 places of food origin, 448 products, and 115 types of products. This analysis was conducted using Tableau Software (Seattle, WA, USA) and Dell Statistica Software (Round Rock, TX, USA), and the food zone was mapped using ArcGIS Software (Redlands, CA, USA). The main goal of the study was to present a framework for foodshed assessment that could be integrated into other analyses of a city’s sustainability in the context of environmental carrying capacity, and the development of the spatial management of a city in a more sustainable way. This preliminary analysis was carried out in order to emphasize the need for conducting an environmental carrying capacity analysis for the city.