The food system is the greatest driver of environmental degradation on Earth. It relies on a low-cost model that does not reflect the true social and environmental costs of food production. This has led to widespread malnutrition and hunger despite high overall food production. The industrial food system produces an overabundance of unhealthy, cheap calories but fails to provide adequate nutrition to nearly 1 billion people. At the same time, food-related diseases are a leading cause of death globally and one-third of all food is wasted. The current industrial model of global food governance is unsustainable and alternative paradigms are needed that place social and environmental values above low prices and corporate profits.

1. The Food
System
Governance, tensions,
challenges, paradigms
JOSE LUIS VIVERO POL
20-21 Sept, Doctoral
Seminar, University Seville

2. HUNGER DAMAGES
THE BRAIN
Malnourished
child brain
Well nourished
child brain

3. 3
STUNTINGduringfirstthre
yearsisIRREVERSIBLE
Well-
nourished
child
neurone
Malnourished
Child
Neurone

5. Hunger in Africa

6. Hunger in Latin
America

7. Hunger in Spain

8. OUR HOME

9. Planetary Boundaries

10. • Food system is the greatest driver of Earth transformation
Low cost food system:
• a) Low food prices that do not reflect either food’s multiple
values to humans or production costs and environmental
externalities,
• (b) overemphasis of hyper-caloric, unhealthy and ultra-
processed food
• (c) hugely subsidised by citizen’s taxes through
governments,
• (d) wasted by tonnes in illogical and inefficient food chains
• e) destructive of limited natural resources, contributing to
climate change and biodiversity reduction.
• Many eat poorly (the hungry of Global South) to enable
others to eat badly & cheaply (the over-weighted of North)

11. Industrial
Food
System
produces
30-40% of
total food

12. Small farming
System
produces 60-
70% of total
food

13. Corporations control 80% of
food exports

14. 14
HUNGER GAMES:
PLAYING WITH NUMBERS

16. 16
795 MILLION HUNGRY PEOPLE

17. According to “The State fo
Food Insecurity in 2015”
(FAO-WFP-IFAD, 2015),
hunger affects 795 million
people now, 216 millon less
that in 1990 (from 23.3% a
12.9%)
Out of those, 155 millon
correspond to China (72%)

18. Africa is doing badly

21. Although Food pikes reduced caloric
intake in poor households…

22. …no effect was detected by FAO statistics

23. Angola: best anti-hunger performer in the world
(two data, latest from 2009, SOFI 2015)

24. A tale of two hungers

25. 17 M households
7 M households
Food price effect

27. 27

28. HUNGER IN UK

30. 30
EU Food Charity
Non universal
Non accountable
Non demandable
No right holders
and duty bearers
Money-restricted
3.8 Billion € in
7 years

31. 31

32. 32
The paradox of
the INDUSTRIAL
FOOD SYSTEM
Foto: Patty´s Flickr
Creative Commons

33. The food sector is the 2nd biggest: A BIG CAKE
(10% GDP & 7 trillion USD in 2015)

34. 34

35. 35
160 million chronically
malnourished
19 million severely
wasted children
HUNGER is largest
contributor (35%)
to child mortality
1.4 BILLION OVERWEIGHT
(300 MILLION OBESE)
2.3 BILLION MALNOURISHED PEOPLE – WE EAT BADLY

36. 36
OBESITY

38. 38
Food System Paradoxes
FOOD PRODUCERS STAY HUNGRY
800 million hungry people, or more (SPI 2013)
70% are food producers
FOOD KILLS PEOPLE
Food-related diseases are a primary cause of
death (6.5 M deaths per year).
FOOD IS (INCREASINGLY) NOT FOR
HUMANS
47% of food for human consumption,
FOOD IS WASTED
1.3 billion tons end up in the garbage every
year (1/3 of global food production) enough
to feed 600 million hungry people.
Foto: Fringe Hoj Flickr
Creative Commons

39. 39
WASTED
FOOD (33%)
1.3 billion
tonnes (to feed
600 million
hungry people)

40. 40
The actual way of
producing,
distributing and
eating food is
unsustainable and it
cannot be maintained
as a such for the next
50 years
IAASTD (2008)
UNEP (2009)
UNCTAD (2013)UK Foresight (2011)

41. How the global
food system is
governed?

42. 42
“FOOD AND NUTRITION SECURITY exists when…”
Technocrats, technicians, official statements, consensus
Twin track approach (production & acces to food)
No questioning food is a commodity:
ACCESS IS THE MAIN ISSUE
OFICIAL
DEFINITION
World Food
Summits
1996 & 2002
Foto: FAO

45. 45
Paradigms

51. Dominant state-driven transition to get rid of old
knowledge/varieties (backwardness) as they
didn´t fit with modernization of agriculture.
Stringent legal frameworks (IP rights & safety
regulations) + political (dis)incentives replaced
open local landraces by modern patent-
restricted varieties.
Alternative transition: citizens/state-driven to
reclaim the commons, sustainable agriculture,
meaningful landscapes & communal practices
that reinforce connectedness, social & economic
benefits & pleasure in doing things with others.
Agro-biodiversity

55. The way we produce
and eat food will
greatly determine
the likelihood of
human presence on
this planet