I just completed a trio of meetings in Asia
(TICAD), Africa (AGRF) and North America (UN General Assembly) all of which had
a strong set of dialogues around food systems, asking how they need to be
rebuilt to promote human health, rural livelihoods and planetary health.
I am really optimistic about the potential
of food systems to address these issues.
First, there is a strong and unusual
alignment of interests. Gearing a food
system towards greater consumer access of nutritious and safe food is obviously
good for human health; it is good for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
(although less clear on things like water, energy and fertiliser use); and it
could be good for livelihoods as high nutrition value crops tend to be higher
market value crops. Whenever interests
are aligned, the potential for aligned action is great.
Second, there are many actions we can take
within the food system that we know will work to improve these 3 sets of
outcomes (health, environment, livelihoods): many recent reports have outlined
these, including the very recent FOLU Growing Better
report and they include things like realigning food production subsidies and
public procurement of food towards nutritious and sustainable foods, reducing
food loss and waste, sugar taxes and subsidies for the consumption of fruits
and vegetables, stronger regulations on the marketing of food, and incentives
to companies small, medium and big to produce more nutritious and sustainable
food.
Third, because small and medium enterprises
(SMEs) are so important for the consumption, production and marketing of food
in lower income countries (in fact they dominate the real food systems ordinary
people rely on), there is a chance to make nutritious safe food more accessible
through these SMEs - without having to rely on trying to change food multinationals. There may even be the potential to leapfrog
western food systems in some countries.
But there are three things that give me
pause for thought and temper my optimism.
First, there does not seem to be a
widespread sense of urgency to change food systems. Yes, food systems were talked about in these
three meetings, but they were only a small percentage of the topics discussed
and you tend to see the same people at each event. Are we generating the sense of urgency that
permeates into related issues and sectors? Not yet. Having a regular drumbeat of data on what the
world is eating that resonates across countries would help to build the
pressure to act.
Second, for those who already recognise
this and want to change food systems, it is difficult for them to know how to
prioritise their energy. For example,
where to start? Is it in the production,
storage, distribution, processing, marketing or retailing parts of the food
system? Or is it in the demand generation side with consumers, or targeting the
rules, subsidies and regulations of the enabling environment? What are the metrics we should follow and
what is the target for transformation? The EAT
Lancet report provides some guides on the consumption of different foods,
but the targets are controversial on the science and on the idea of
universality. We need UN consumption targets
and we need food system data and tools for prioritisation to help guide
decision makers at the national level.
Third, and perhaps most importantly, there
is an outrage deficit. By generating so
much ill health, food systems are bankrupting health systems which are having to
mop up the growing expense and suffering caused by poor diets. By generating so many greenhouse gases, food
systems are a major contributor to climate change and environmental
degradation. Through food waste cause by an underinvestment in infrastructure,
food systems are undermining rural livelihoods. For outrage, read the transcript
of Greta Thunberg’s extraordinary speech at the UN General Assembly last week. Where are the Greta Thunbergs – of any
age—talking about the food system and saying “how dare you pretend this can be
solved with business as usual and some technical solutions?”?
There is the challenge for us all. The
alignment of interests has not yet gelled into an alignment of urgency, outrage,
and action. We need to target our energy against the dysfunctions of food
system as a whole, not just be transfixed by the more extreme examples of poor
practices. Many of the technical challenges of rebuilding food systems can be
solved, and with our many partners, we at GAIN are working on these challenges.
But the political mobilisation needed to spark a sense of outrage at the slow
pace of change has not yet emerged.
So I call on partners in the civil society
space who are so experienced in campaigning to set aside egos and logos, and
join forces to create a global, deliberate, organised and ambitious campaign to
revolutionise food systems. Everywhere. For
everyone.