Chapter 11: Food

Food Systems Complexity

As you have already seen in this book, systems thinking is a way of approaching complex topics. Food systems have many different elements and interconnections, feedback loops, and leverage points. This complexity can make food and sustainability seem overwhelming. Food systems include many different actors and activities, including food producers, processing, distribution, consumption, and disposal. It also includes many sub-systems; each of the items in the previous list could be a sub-system and interacts with other systems such as energy, transportation, trade, and health. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations states that “a sustainable food system (SFS) is a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised” (Nguyen, 2018, p. 1). Recall from Chapter 6 that Dr. Julian Agyeman also advocates for culturally-appropriate food, a concept that is not recognized in the above definition.

Let’s break down what that might mean in our daily lives. Imagine talking with someone who drinks at least two 8 oz glasses of milk a day. They currently drink regular 1% milk from the grocery store. They have come to you for help to improve the sustainability of their milk. They are okay with changing the type of milk but don’t want to remove milk completely from their diet.

Some initial suggestions you might consider include purchasing organic milk or trying to purchase from a local dairy. Unfortunately, they have looked into both of those and they would both increase the cost too much for their budget. You might then do some research on other types of milk and the environmental impacts of each, but what do you want to consider? The most sustainable type of milk seems to change whether you are looking at greenhouse gas emissions from production, greenhouse gas emissions from transportation, water usage, biodiversity loss from monocultures, and deforestation. Already you’re swimming in numbers, trying to figure out the best option for where you live, and then the person you’re helping throws another consideration into the mix: nutrition. They would like it if the milk alternative still provides significant levels of protein. That changes things and may result in a different answer, and we haven’t even gotten to considerations regarding working conditions and social justice or culture. We also need to consider how much waste is produced both during processing and distribution and by the consumer through wasted product and packaging.

The complexity of a single choice when it comes to food makes it clear that a reductionist approach is not ideal. This is why food systems are gaining support.

Hope is on the Table

While the complexity of food creates significant challenges, it also creates space for many opportunities. Watch the next video (4:33) to learn about just a few places where there is room for hope within food sustainability.

Expanding Your Knowledge

There are many different connections between food and other areas of our lives, personal and professional. Systems thinking provides an approach to think about food that recognizes the complexity. And yet, it can still be challenging to think about all the possible connections that occur.

References

Nguyen, H. (2018). Sustainable food systems: Concept and framework. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. https://www.fao.org/3/ca2079en/CA2079EN.pdf