Plates and Policies Are Best Shared

The global pandemic has jolted our food systems and lifted the veil to reveal the extent of its inefficiency, fragility, and unsustainability. Food is the epicentre of this global transition process. It represents the intricate web that connects everything and everyone — from policymakers to businesses, from producers to consumers and, therefore, is precisely the tool for the regeneration we so desperately need.

We need to swing from ego-centric to eco-centric systems, extractive to regenerative, ‘profit-driven’ to inclusive. Efficient policies play a crucial role to pursue this goal.

The first signs of this paradigm shift are from political choices emerging at the national, regional, and international levels. In this direction, the coming back on the scene to take the lead on climate targets. Not only with the stated intention to rejoin the United States is Paris Agreement (from which the U.S. exited in November 2020) but with engagements resulting from the conclusion of President Joe Biden’s Climate Summit on April 22 .

With 40 heads of state gathered around the table, a shared commitment is expressed to halve U.S. emissions by 2030 and not 2050, as stated in the Paris Agreement. Back to Europe, and more specifically Italy, Mario Draghi’s new Italian government comes with a Ministry for Ecological Transition that plans to make the national economy greener and carbon neutral.

Though these are all very positive developments, I cannot help but ask what we are concretely doing to create the frameworks and awareness that will propel our desire for change and better policies forward in the most efficient way?

The resolve for change without mobilisation is like a president without a government. The multifaceted challenges the world is facing (climate, economic, social, and health) require the culmination of three ingredients: a new mindset, purpose-driven leadership, and collective action.

Let us serve food as the pilot to create this fusion.

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Originally published at https://accidentaleuropean.com on June 23, 2021.