3 Why are Food Systems Currently Not Sustainable?
There are many food systems, and they could be thought of as subsystems to the larger complex system that you learned about in the previous section. Some aspects of food systems, including dietary patterns, are more sustainable, and some are less sustainable. However, the overall outcomes (widespread malnutrition, food insecurity, and negative impacts) of food systems are not sustainable.
Learning Activities
3.1. Watch
Watch this short video from the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) (~4 minutes). It provides a very simple and visual outline of the social and environmental challenges that make our food systems unsustainable.
Interactive Video – Why do we need to change our food system? [1]
Transcript – Why do we need to change our food system? [PDF]
3.2. Read
Read 9 ways food systems are failing humanity by UNEP, available online. (~30 minute read). It provides a unique and overlapping perspective to 3.1, which is important, because what social and environmental challenges are highlighted depends somewhat on perspective.
3.3. Reflect
After watching the video and reading this chapter, reflect on the following questions. (~20 minutes)
- Describe how climate change is impacting food systems, and how food systems are impacting climate change.*
- Describe how food systems (including human diets) are impacting, and are impacted by, two to three other environmental challenges (e.g., biodiversity).*
- Describe how food systems (including human diets) are impacting social sustainability. If needed, review the “Five Principles of Sustainability” video. For example, how do they impact human health and inequality?*
- With natural resources under pressure, how can individual consumers and communities contribute to preserving these resources through their food choices?*
- Try and think of two ways that the challenges you described above (in questions 1-3) are directly impacting your community.*
3.4. Extend Your Learning
If you wish to deepen your understanding, explore the following:
If you want to explore the ways in which food systems are unsustainable, we recommend reading Foodsource Chapter 1: Overview of Food System Challenges [PDF]. It is about 25 pages and takes about 1 hour to read.
You can also explore the Additional Resources for Sustainable Food Systems Work page available online.
Or, you can begin with the following resources:
- Climate change and variability: What are the risks for nutrition, diets, and food systems? is available online. (4 hours, paper)
- Human Health and Climate Change Course is available online. (2-hour course, free)
- The Food Systems Academy is available online. (website, blog, talks)
Congratulations on finishing Chapter 3!
Media Attributions
- 9 Ways food systems are failing humanity © Shutterstock
- UN Environment Programme. Why do we need to change our food system? [Internet]. YouTube. 2016. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcL3BQeteCc ↵
Food systems are complex, non-linear, systems that “… that embrace all the elements (environment, people, inputs, processes, infrastructure, institutions, markets and trade) and activities that relate to the production, processing, distribution and marketing, preparation and consumption of food and the outputs of these activities, including socio-economic and environmental outcomes.” — Dietitians of Canada, 2020
Sustainability is conceptualized in many different ways that vary by discipline and culture. We provide here a few concepts that may help you.
Netukulimk is the Mi’kmaw (First Nations, Canada) concept for “the use of the natural bounty provided by the Creator for the self-support and well-being of the individual and the community at large.” In this case community refers to the interconnectedness of all things—land, animals, water, human beings, plants, customs, laws. For Mi’kmaw, this understanding comes out of wejisqalia’timk, which means literally “we sprouted from the earth” and this speaks to the generations and generations of Mi’kmaq who have lived in Mi’kma’ki. — Sable, T. & Francis, B., 2012, p. 17.
For a detailed understanding, see Part 1 What are Sustainable Food Systems and Diets, which explores the question What is Sustainability? According to the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development, sustainability can be defined by adherence to 8 sustainability principles (three environmental and 5 social). They are:
In a sustainable society, nature is not subject to systematically increasing …
1. … concentrations of substances extracted from the Earth’s crust. This means limited extraction and safeguarding so that concentrations of lithospheric substances do not increase systematically in the atmosphere, the oceans, the soil or other parts of nature; e.g., fossil carbon and metals;
2. … concentrations of substances produced by society. This means conscious molecular design, limited production and safeguarding so that concentrations of societally produced molecules and nuclides do not increase systematically in the atmosphere, the oceans, the soil or other parts of nature; e.g., nitrogen oxides and chlorofluorocarbons;
3. … degradation by physical means. This means that the area, thickness and quality of soils, the availability of fresh water, the biodiversity, and other aspects of biological productivity and resilience, are not systematically deteriorated by mismanagement, displacement or other forms of physical manipulation; e.g., over-harvesting of forests and over-fishing;
and people are not subject to structural obstacles to …
1. … health. This means that people are not exposed to social conditions that systematically undermine their possibilities to avoid injury and illness; physically, mentally or emotionally; e.g., by dangerous working conditions or insufficient rest from work;
2. … influence. This means that people are not systematically hindered from participating in shaping the social systems they are part of; e.g., by suppression of free speech or neglect of opinions;
3. … competence. This means that people are not systematically hindered from learning and developing competence individually and together; e.g., by obstacles for education or insufficient possibilities for personal development;
4. … impartiality. This means that people are not systematically exposed to partial treatment; e.g., by discrimination or unfair selection to job positions;
5. … meaning-making. This means that people are not systematically hindered from creating individual meaning and co-creating common meaning; e.g., by suppression of cultural expression or obstacles to co-creation of purposeful conditions.
From a Strategic Sustainable Development perspective, a sustainable society does not contribute to violation of the above principles. Within these parametres, myriad possibilities exist. — Broman and Robert, 2017
Sustainability means being capable of being maintained over the long term in order to meet the needs of the present without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their needs. — American Dietetic Association, 2007
