Our favourite quotes about the future of food
This month, the Global Alliance for the Future of Food celebrates its 10-year anniversary. We would not be where we are today without our network of members and allies around the world.
To highlight the dynamic and wide-reaching nature of the work that’s being led by Global Alliance members, we invited them to speak with their partners around the world. The outcome is a new podcast mini-series, 10 Minutes for 10 Years: Conversations About the Future of Food. Below are eight quotes that stood out to our team.
“To me, it is so central to the definition of agroecology that it is not just about the practice on the land, but it’s about building power and doing that through social movements.” — Anna Lappé, Director of the Panta Rhea Foundation’s Food Sovereignty Fund
Unlike industrial agriculture which is narrowly focused on efficiency and productivity, agroecology extends beyond the practice of growing food. It places food systems in the context of culture, equity, the environment, and more. Our report, The Politics of Knowledge, is one place to start for those looking to nurture their understanding of the evidence for agroecology, regenerative approaches, and Indigenous foodways.
“If you look at prices — whether it’s the price of wheat, corn, or oil — they have been on the rise for over a year. And why are they increasing? Because the price of energy is rising. What I think has been revealed to us today, in the crisis we are currently facing, is how much our food systems rely heavily on fossil fuels.” — Nicolas Bricas, Director of the UNESCO Chair on World Food Systems
The connection between food and fossil fuels has been the elephant in the room for decades. The war in Ukraine has revealed how dependent we are on an unsustainable energy sector. Outgoing Executive Director Ruth Richardson co-authored a piece earlier this year that touched on this point of tension.
“Why do we start with diets when we think about food systems transformation? Because unless you change what consumers demand, you’re not going to change what producers are producing.” — Abhishek Jain, Fellow and Director at Council of Energy, Environment and Water
This quote highlights the important link between supply and demand-side measures. A shift towards sustainable food systems can happen by addressing how our food is grown, processed, and transported — i.e. the supply side of the equation. But true food systems transformation requires behaviour shifts all along the value chain, and that means supporting eaters to favour more plant-based, nutritious, and culturally relevant meals.
“When I think about our food system, I envision a world with a multitude of local and regional food systems. Where resilience is a more central goal than efficiency and where we have food rooted in community and food sovereignty.” — Stacey Faella, Executive Director at the Woodcock Foundation
This quote reminds us of the set of stories the Global Alliance released during the COVID-19 pandemic. Profiling how seven food-focused initiatives responded to the pandemic, the stories from around the world demonstrated the importance of local food systems and food sovereignty as a means to address many of the global challenges we face today.
“Today, 33 million Brazilians go hungry and nearly 60% of the population (125 million people) live in food insecurity. Food insecurity in the Black population has increased by 70% in one year.” — Manu Justo, Food Systems Programme Portfolio Manager at Instituto Ibirapitanga
It’s critical to apply an equity lens when looking at food systems transformation. Low-income and racialized communities are more likely to experience the compounding effects of rising food prices, inflation, and climate change. We cannot truly create more healthy, equitable, and renewable food systems without exploring issues of structural racism. This intersectionality is at the heart of how the Global Alliance approaches its work.
“We have created a value chain around small-scale farmers and the value they can bring to the land and the services that they provide.” — Dale Lewis, CEO of COMACO — Community Markets for Conservation
COMACO’s story has long inspired us. The Zambia-based organization recognizes the inextricable linkages between food security, poaching, poverty, and environmental conservation. Critically, they create a market for locally-farmed products, making it possible for communities to escape cycles of poverty and live in a way that’s better for their health and well-being of themselves, animals, and the planet.
“We cannot find any evidence that there is a fundamental trade-off between food security, climate security, and environmental security.” Dr. Fabrice DeClerck, Science Director at EAT Forum
Food systems transformation is an untapped opportunity for climate action. This has been a key focus of the Global Alliance’s work for several years, culminating in an assessment of how countries around the world are (and could better) include food systems measures in their national climate action plans. We’re excited to continue evolving this work, especially ahead of upcoming convenings like COP27 in Egypt.
“The networks that exist within the Global Alliance are amazing, an amazing resource with the ability to connect local to global and all scales in between, and especially with civil society, social movements, farmers, and Indigenous communities — I don’t think we can underplay how important that’s been and the deep systems thinking.” — Ruth Richardson, Outgoing Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food
To end, as Ruth Richardson’s quote reflects, as a strategic alliance of philanthropic foundations, the Global Alliance’s value is extended through a network of strong relationships, a commitment to uphold diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a systems thinking mindset. With this, the Global Alliance looks ahead to the next decade.
Interested in hearing the full conversations as part of this podcast mini-series? You can find them all here.
