We Need to Urgently Fix Our Food System
The UN Food System Summit laid out the path to a healthy, affordable, and equal food system, but the action is urgent
On Thursday, September 23, the first-ever UN Food System Summit took place. The rainbow of sustainability illuminated the virtual stage set up for the event and thousands of people attended the discussion about how to reshape and rebuild the present food systems. “We must build a world where healthy and nutritious food is available and affordable to everyone, everywhere”, said Secretary-General H.E. António Guterres bringing to light the aim of the summit.
Farmers, youth, indigenous peoples, policymakers, and leaders joined together to find the solutions to fix a corrupted, unequal and unfair system that still cannot cope with malnutrition, hunger, slavery, and pollution. The entire food system is under revision, but we have to act quickly and effectively if we want to fulfill the promises made to ourselves and future generations. People are suffering, the planet is suffering, and prosperity becomes more and more a mirage in a desert of uncontrolled and uncontrollable progress.
Some months before the UN Food System Summit began, specifically June 29th, the most powerful countries in the world formally recognised the urgency to address food insecurity and safety. It was a sunny day in Matera when a half-naked man appeared on its terrace showing himself to the eyes of the world. Beneath him, ministers and politicians from the great nations of the world were gathering for the G20. Apart from that extravagant and unexpected event, the day brought to debate and dialogue around the recent challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Among these, the instability and fragility of food systems, exacerbated by the difficult economic and social conditions generated by the pandemic. At the end of the day, the Matera Declaration on Food Security, Nutrition and Food Systems was signed by the participants.
Through the document, the signatories have expressed their intention to effective and timely actions in the field of food security. This anticipated the Food Summit, directing international commitments — at least it should. G20 members agreed to commit to collaborate with developing countries to fight food waste and make healthy food accessible to everyone. But action needs priorities, and what this document effectively succeeds in is identifying them.
First, creating equal opportunities for the young and the women. Second, enhancing social protection and sharing knowledge and new resources (investments). Third, promoting adaptation policies and interventions in agriculture — you can read about mitigation and adaptation policies in my previous article, Mitigation And Adaptation as a Response to Climate Change. Fourth, increasing availability, accessibility, and affordability of healthy foods by strengthening value chains and the mechanism of international trade. Last but not least, promoting the One-Health approach, a holistic scientific method to design interventions in which not only human but also animal and environmental health are considered, embracing the dogma of sustainability.
These priorities find full acceptance and match what emerged from the UN Food System Summit. During the opening, leaders expressed the results of 18 months of work and collaboration. It seems obvious to most that we must radically change the way we produce and consume food, and that food systems are pivotal in reaching the 17 Sustainable Development Goals set by the Agenda 2030.
Indigenous people need to be recognised as potential game-changers, together with young generations. At the same time, women, that in most cases form a consistent share of the labour force, need equal treatment and protection. There are still too many cases of exploitation and violence at work, and this working class often finds it difficult to access financial resources and knowledge. Finally, one-third of food produced is still wasted while millions of people cannot have access to any nutrients. This is unacceptable and many efforts should come to adjust this immense and unjust disregard of resources.
However, agreeing on what to do will not be enough. We have already seen how agreements can be easily terminated or simply left at the mercy of economic needs. Young people will have to fight for their space in political decision-making, but they will have to do so with effective and pragmatic proposals. Women and indigenous peoples will have to raise their voices more and more in a world that increasingly cries out for tragedy and listens too little to people and the planet. We all have to change our habits and make a better society together in which no one is left behind, where no one struggles with hunger, where resources and labour are properly valued and the environment is protected.
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