On the 30th of March 2021, the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) has released a new report in collaboration with the ETC Group: ‘A Long Food Movement? Transforming Food Systems by 2045’.
Two very different futures for food systems, people and the planet were mapped out in this report. First, what do the next 25 years have in store if we allow “agribusiness-as-usual” to continue? The keys of the food system are handed over to data platforms, private equity firms, and e-commerce giants, accelerating environmental breakdown and jeopardizing the food security and livelihoods of billions.
But what if the initiative is reclaimed by civil society and social movements – from grassroots organizations to international NGOs, from farmers’ and fishers’ groups to cooperatives and unions? What a ‘Long Food Movement’ could achieve by 2045 if these movements succeed in collaborating more closely – to transform financial flows, governance structures and food systems from the ground up?
The report lays out a series of strategies for a Long Food Movement to build sustainable food systems over the next 25 years. It estimates that, united, civil society could force a shift of up to USD 4 trillion from the industrial food chain to food sovereignty and agroecology. This includes USD 720 billion in subsidies going to big commodity production, and as much as USD 1.6 trillion in healthcare savings from a crackdown on junk food. The sum total of these actions could cut 75% of food system emissions.
For further information on this report, please click on the following links, and visit IPES-Food website.