Five Actions Needed to Change the Food System

7/29/20242 min read

white and gold ceramic round plate
white and gold ceramic round plate

1. Conceptualizing change through individual action as well as common and collective relations, interests, and impetuses (Levkoe 2011).

Instead of isolating the individual as the primary agent of change, it could be helpful to instead consider the individual as a foundational unit of change, which agglomerates and coordinates with other units at a local, municipal, or regional scale.

2. Approaching food system issues as constellated with other social, ecological, health, and political dimensions (Levkoe 2011).

The following diagram sets out a number of different narratives which, taken together, illustrate the multifaceted nature of food systems:-

(Béné et al 2019)

3. Rejecting blind fidelity to 'localism'; examining power imbalances within and across local boundaries (Levkoe 2011).

Primarily, this involves giving up the notion that the act of eating/shopping local, or locavorism, is inherently superior or virtuous. 

4. Preserving and elevating alternative framings and understandings of the world (Leach et al 2020).

Indigenous and local understandings could offer possible pathways beyond the modern mainstream neoliberal, technocratic, corporativist, settler-colonial discourses.

5. Supporting alternative food system pathways, particularly those which are underpinned by more devolved and decentralized modes of food governance (Leach et al 2020).

Alternative food initiatives such as community gardens, community food banks, soup kitchens, and food sovereignty, have had their share of criticisms, but these should not stop us from continuing to explore and develop these and other notions in seeking to food system transformation.

References

  • Béné, C., Oosterveer, P., Lamotte, L., Brouwer, I.D., de Haan, S., Prager, S.D., Talsma, E.F., and Khoury, C.K. (2019). 'When food systems meet sustainability – Current narratives and implications for actions'. World Development 113 (2019) 116-130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2018.08.011

  • Leach, M. Nisbette, N., Cabral, L.,Harris, J.,Hossain, N., and Thompson, J. (2020). 'Food politics and development'. World Development 134 (2020) 105024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.worlddev.2020.105024

  • Levkoe, C.Z. (2011). 'Towards a transformative food politics'. Local Environment, 16:7, 687-705, DOI: 10.1080/13549839.2011.592182