The Future of Food: A fair response needed to a global crisis

by Toby Quantrill, Head of Policy and Impact, Fairtrade Foundation

On the eve of World Food Day over three hundred grassroots campaigners from all over the UK came together and discussed what lessons could be drawn from Fairtrade about coping with the escalating crisis in the global food system with experts.

‘Food security is about affordability and availability of food to farmers and working populations and not just about increasing productivity’, stated Renwick Rose, coordinator of the Windward Islands Farmers Association - a clear challenge to the mainstream analysis that the problem is a simple matter of supply and demand.

The complexity of the challenge of the future of food and questions of economics and abuse of power in the food system were developed further by Helen Browning, farmer and Director of the Soil Association. Browning explained, ‘Food is a window from which to address wider system issues. With over two billion malnourished, and an equal number obese, it is time to question the basic business model that guides how food is produced and consumed’.

Director of Sainsbury’s Brand, Judith Batchelar, talked about some of the actions that Sainsbury’s is taking to increase sustainable procurement in their systems and the drivers behind these developments. Batchelar outlined three things that she believes need to change in the food supply chain: transparency and understanding of the food supply chain; reducing wastage; and better use of science and technology including crop data, forecasting and use of mobile phones to share best practice.

Finally, Director of Communications and Policy at the Fairtrade Foundation, Barbara Crowther, highlighted the dangers of price volatility in the system for vulnerable farmers, ‘Changes in long term prices are affecting farmers adversely and responses to make the food system more sustainable need to deal with this effectively’.

Crowther’s suggestions for tackling power dynamics in the food system included: Putting small farmers back at the centre of supply chain; understanding and engaging with the politics of the food regime and trading system; and to stop treating food as a commodity to be traded like any other.

Despite the obvious scale of the challenge, the discussion ended on a positive note. For Renwick Rose, Fairtrade provides a practical response to volatility, providing not just a fair price but also long term stability for rural communities, greater voice and greater power in the supply chains with which they engage.

Helen Browning asserted that the well-being of people and the well-being of the environment are indivisible and that both the Fairtrade and the Organic movement demonstrate this fact and should work more closely towards common aims.

Everyone acknowledged that Fairtrade can only be a part of the solution but the success it has enjoyed, and the lessons it can provide, gives hope that a fairer and more sustainable food system can be created.