A Food Systems Approach to Natural Resource Use - Why Food Systems PDF

A Food System: Approach to Natural Resource Use- Why Food Systems? Romy Chammas MSc. Summer 2024  Food System Food security involves more than just food production; It involves food availability, access, an...

A Food System: Approach to Natural Resource Use- Why Food Systems? Romy Chammas MSc. Summer 2024  Food System Food security involves more than just food production; It involves food availability, access, and utilization. ‘Food system’ is defined as: “All the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructures, institutions, etc…) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution, preparation and consumption of food, and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes”  Food System A sustainable food system is a collaborative network that integrates sustainable food production, processing, distribution, consumption, and waste management in a way that enhances the environmental, economic, and social health of a particular place. In a sustainable food system, the environmental, economic, and social aspects are not compromised for future generations. Food systems are at the heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, a historic global commitment to eradicate poverty and hunger while ensuring healthy, prosperous, and fulfilling lives for all.  Food System Food systems crucially depend on natural resources: Land and soil Water (fresh water) Terrestrial and marine biodiversity Essential nutrients for crops and animals (nitrogen and phosphorus) Fossil fuels The use of these natural resources goes beyond primary food production (agriculture). They are needed in all the processes of the food system. To ensure that all people have safe and nutritious food in appropriate amounts, these natural resources need to be managed sustainably and used efficiently, while reducing environmental impacts. Therefore, the world needs ‘resource-smart’ food systems.  Food System Globally, the food sector is the dominant user of a number of natural resources, particularly land, fresh water, biodiversity, nitrogen and phosphorus. Food systems, and food production in particular, are also a major driver of a number of environmental impacts: Loss of biodiversity Soil degradation Water depletion Greenhouse gas emissions Therefore, people who directly or indirectly manage food systems are also the largest group of natural resource managers in the world.  Why Food Systems? Reasons for looking at food systems rather than at food production alone: An approach which merely focuses on the production side does not consider opportunities within other food system activities, such as food processing, retailing and preparing, to attain more resource efficiency across the whole system. Reducing food losses and waste has become especially important, receiving more attention in recent years. Many of the production activities are controlled by demand, and therefore are largely set by signals that come from the whole food chain. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcL3BQeteCc  Why Food Systems? (Cont’d) Reasons for looking at food systems rather than at food production alone: A food systems approach addresses more directly the important food security issues of both undernutrition and overconsumption. A production-oriented approach fails to take into account the serious health implications that arise from current food consumption patterns. An increasing number of people are suffering from non-communicable diseases related to the overconsumption of sugar and fat. These include diabetes, certain types of cancer, and heart diseases. Moreover, different dietary choices could lead to more resource- efficient food systems, resulting in both reduced pressures on natural resources and better health outcomes.  Why Food Systems? (Cont’d) Reasons for looking at food systems rather than at food production alone: A food systems approach also considers changes such as ‘supermarketization’, referring to the increasing involvement of internationally-operated supermarkets in the total share of consumer food purchases. This supermarketization not only affects the power relations in the food supply chain, but very often also affects eating habits and product sourcing. The change has resulted in a small number of companies dominating the market.  Why Food Systems? All the food system activities have interactions with natural resources. The food system outcomes affect the environment, food security, and social factors. In turn, their individual outcomes feedback on the activities of food systems as well as natural resources (Figure 1).  Why Food Systems? Figure 1: shows the major food system activities (all of which are dependent on natural resources) and their outcomes in relation to: The 3 major components of food security and their respective elements, all of which need to be satisfied for food security to be met Societal factors: Outcomes related to social factors feedback to socio-economic drivers, which in turn affect food system activities. Environmental factors: Outcomes related to environmental factors feedback to natural resources. The food systems approach thus allows the food chain activities to be linked to their social and environmental settings. Moreover, actors in each section of the food chain have their own interests and affect each other’s behavior.  Using a ‘Food System Lens’ To Look at Multiple Objectives The SDGs have been designed to address all of the dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social, and environmental – recognizing that progress needs to be made on all of them. The food systems approach helps both identify and ‘map’ these multiple goals. It also helps organize and systematically structure the conversations needed to identify and work towards potential synergies between them.  Using a ‘Food System Lens’ to Deal With Complexity The various food system activities are described as dynamic and interacting processes affected by social, economic, political, environmental, and historical settings (Ingram, 2011). There are numerous food system ‘actors’ who perform these activities, and they behave, act, and influence each other in a certain way to achieve their objectives. However, these influences do not follow each other in a predictable or sequential order. A food system approach helps deal with such complexity in the food chain.  Look From a Business Viewpoint Many businesses are now striving to improve the management of natural resources, both to ensure continuity of essential feedstock for their processes, and also to project a more sustainable message to their customers. This is a very important development, as the opportunity to bring about positive change in managing natural resources often best falls to resource managers and other actors ‘on the ground’, rather than to the formal policy process. A food systems approach therefore helps move towards both better food security outcomes and better sustainable management of the natural resources upon which food security ultimately depends.  Conclusion The food system concept can be thought of as a combination of all the activities (the ‘what we do’) and the outcomes of these activities (the ‘what we get’). The food systems approach, therefore, clearly defines and combines the full set of activities (not just the production side) related to food in all its aspects. A food system lens helps deal with the multiple objectives related to sustainable development and the complexity in food system activities. It also helps improve food security outcomes and sustainable management of the natural resources.