Giving Compass' Take:

• Reimagining and redesigning food systems draws on systems thinking in three key ways: re-thinking supply chains, building connections between food policy and strengthening food system planning. 

• How can donors participate in reimagining food systems after COVID-19?

• Learn more on how COVID-19 impacts the food system. 

The Covid-19 crisis is a ‘stress test’ for our global food systems – and they are failing. Today we see farmers dumping milk and ploughing crops back into their fields, even as stores empty and the need for food assistance surges. We see export restrictions and price hikes as experts predict dramatic increases in malnutrition globally. These failures demand that we ask not only how to repair this damage, but how to fundamentally reimagine food systems to make them more nourishing, resilient and sustainable.

For decades, thinking and strategies around food have developed in silos, with little coordination between communities working on nutrition, agriculture, food, environment, water, health, climate, employment, trade or transport. This has generated serious problems – from policies that provide cheap calories but lead to high rates of diet-related diseases, to market innovations that prioritize efficiency above all and production systems that contribute to climate change and biodiversity loss.

Next year, world leaders and experts will convene for the Food Systems Summit of 2021, called for by the United Nations Secretary-General, to articulate and adopt an actionable, integrated plan for food systems transformation. Looking ahead to the summit, we need to bring siloed communities together to redesign how we produce, process, distribute, regulate, legislate, research, cook, and eat food.

This is ambitious, but we must be bold and think big. Drawing on systems thinking, we propose three initial actions to reimagine and redesign our food systems:

  1. Re-think supply chains for a diverse and healthy diet
  2. Build strong connections between environment and food policy
  3. Strengthen, democratize, and localize food systems planning

Read the full article about reimagining food systems by Sara Farley and Sara Scherr at The Rockefeller Foundation.