Editorial: Resetting Power in Global Food Governance: The UN Food Systems Summit

Wit, Maywa Montenegro de; Canfield, Matthew; Iles, Alastair; Anderson, Mary L.; McKeon, Nora; Guttal, Shalmali; Gemmill-Herren, Barbara; Duncan, Jessica; Ploeg, J.D. van der; Prato, Stefano Del

doi:10.1057/s41301-021-00316-x

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…While past food summits were led by countries willing to engage in collective decision-making, the UNFSS included transnational companies and corporate philanthropic organizations without clear rules of engagement, thus shifting power dynamics and the balance of influence (Chandrasekaran et al, 2021;Clapp et al, 2021;Montenegro, 2021). The unanswered criticisms resulted in a boycott led by more than 500 CSO members of the Civil Society and Indigenous Peoples' Mechanism along with hundreds of food systems researchers and educators from across the globe (Agroecology Research-Action Coalition, 2021; Food Systems 4 People, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Civil society engagement in food systems governance in Canada: Experiences, gaps, and possibilities

Levkoe

Andrée

Ballamingie

et al. 2023

J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev.

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Civil society organizations (CSOs) commonly experience food systems governance as imposed by governments from the top down and as unduly influenced by a small group of private sector actors that hold disproportionate power. This uneven influence significantly impacts the activities and relationships that determine the nature and orientation of food systems. In contrast, some CSOs have sought to establish participatory governance structures that are more democratic, accessible, collaborative, and rooted in social and environmental justice. Our research seeks to better understand the experiences of CSOs across the food systems governance landscape and critically analyze the successes, challenges, and future opportunities for establishing collaborative governance processes with the goal of building healthier, sustainable, and more equitable food systems. This paper presents findings from a survey of CSOs in Canada to identify who is involved in this work, key policy priorities, and opportunities and limitations experienced. Following the survey, we conducted interviews with a broad cross-section of CSO representatives to deepen our understanding of experiences engaging with food systems governance. Our findings suggest that what food systems governance is, how it is experienced, and what more participatory structures might look like are part of an emergent and contested debate. We argue for increased scholarly attention to the ways that proponents of place-based initiatives engage in participatory approaches to food systems governance, examining both current and future possibilities. We conclude by identifying five key gaps in food systems governance that require additional focus and study: (1) Describing the myriad meanings of participatory food systems governance; (2) Learning from food movement histories; (3) Deepening meaningful Indigenous-settler relationships; (4) Addressing food systems labor issues; and (5) Considering participatory food systems governance in the context of COVID-19.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Civil society engagement in food systems governance in Canada: Experiences, gaps, and possibilities

Levkoe

Andrée

Ballamingie

et al. 2023

J. Agric. Food Syst. Community Dev.

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“…Nonetheless, the UNFSS of 2021 surprised many on the depth of corporate capture with the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES) (IPES‐Food, 2023, p. 5) calling it a ‘watershed moment in drawing attention to corporate influence over public food governance’ (also see Fakhri, 2022; McMichael, 2021). Corporate influence at the UNFSS was facilitated in a number of different ways, including through an explicit commitment to ‘multi‐stakeholderism’, which effectively allowed corporate actors to play a prominent and formal role in the agenda setting process (Montenegro de Wit et al., 2021). The complex structure of the UNFSS with its various ‘networks’ and ‘action tracks’, and the identification of food system ‘heroes’ and ‘champions’, also likely facilitated a summit where the agenda could be set by powerful corporate actors (Canfield et al., 2021).…”

Section: Technopolitics and Global Food Governancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…In exploring the technopolitics of salmon aquaculture, our work puts into productive conversation a body of scholarship on the politics of agri-food metrics (Freidberg, 2014(Freidberg, , 2020Ouma, 2010;Reisman, 2019;Rosin et al, 2017), with contemporary debates on the role of corporate power in global food governance that have come into sharp relief in the wake of the 2021 UNFSS (Canfield et al, 2021;Clapp et al, 2021;Montenegro de Wit et al, 2021). Research on agri-food metrics has, with a few exceptions (Fairbairn & Kish, 2022;Stone, 2022), tended to focus on their use in northern countries, and the focus has tended to be at regional or national scales.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Finprint’ technopolitics and the corporatisation of global food governance

Martin,

Mather

2023

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Our concern in this paper is the environmental ‘footprinting’ of food and its role as a source of technopolitical power in global food governance. Our case is the highly industrialised farmed salmon sector which currently generates metrics and carefully curated visualisations to promote this fish as a more sustainable and ‘climate friendly’ protein relative to animal protein produced on land. We show how these metrics and visualisations depend on an industrial production and measurement infrastructure. Significantly, this infrastructure and the metrics that it generates is being promoted as a ‘climate smart’ solution to small‐scale and extensive aquaculture in the Global South. Salmon aquaculture industry proposals for the transfer of technology from salmon farming to global aquaculture are explicitly articulated in global food governance and other institutional spaces. While there may be frictions in the transfer of salmon aquaculture's infrastructure of measurement to aquaculture in the Global South, our analysis suggests that environmental footprinting of food—and its associated measurement infrastructure—may be an emerging source of technopolitical power in increasingly corporatised global food governance systems.

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“…By pinpointing agroecology as an overarching mission, deep and broad systemic change towards ecologically, economically, technologically, and socially sustainable agri-food systems could be driven by policy. As this goes directly against agroecology's grassroots character, it would be of critical importance to avoid capture by powerful regime elements (as argued in Chapter 5) (Smith, Fressoli, and Thomas 2014;Anderson et al 2021;Clapp 2021;Montenegro de Wit et al 2021;Bezner Kerr et al 2022;Giraldo et al 2022).…”

Section: Implications For Policy and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

“…This should be considered from a broad, holistic perspective that considers not just agri-food policy, but related spheres. Accounting for questions of power and representation of stakeholders, and their possible influence-taking on policy, is key (Anderson et al 2021;Montenegro de Wit et al 2021). Further, even if policy focuses on just its technological and practical aspects, the potential of agroecology to contribute to climate change mitigation should be utilized.…”

Section: Implications For Policy and Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

Growing agroecology in Nicaragua : Towards a multi-scale perspective on agroecological transitions

Schiller¹

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Preface and acknowledgementsThis PhD is much more than just a thesis and much more than the sum of its parts (a sentiment I assume many doctoral researchers share). My PhD journey has been amazing and unexpected, a wild ride and an incredibly steep learning curve, and has changed my life for the better in both the professional and personal senses. It has been very challenging and also extraordinarily fun. Although I cherish the experiences and memories made with many people whom I met over the course of my research -e.g. farmers and research assistants I was lucky enough to work with -several individuals have played especially important roles in the journey that led to the experience of researching and writing this dissertation.Tanya Kerssen, through working together at a restaurant, our friendship grew and you were the first person who got me interested in agriculture and food systems -who knew that was my passion! A special thank you for opening my eyes to ethical issues and problems of justice and equity in food production and consumption.Katrin Winkler, by taking a chance on me in supporting my admittance to the University of Hohenheim's MSc program in 'Environmental Protection and Agricultural Food Production', you paved the way for my being able to do a PhD. Without you, none of this would have been possible -thank you for believing in me back then! Onno Giller, I am everlastingly grateful that you were my colleague and friend during the first times at KTI, in Wageningen, and in Nicaragua -thank you for showing me the ropes both inside and outside of WUR! Marijn Poortvliet, thank you for your inspiration for, and your long-lasting support through, the many revisions and iterations of the interminable gender chapter! Thanks for opening my eyes to, and helping me wade my way through, new (to me) questions of social psychology and quantitative data analyses.Wendy Godek, I cannot thank you enough for your mentorship, your friendship, your advice, and our many hours of intense conversation on topics both professional and personal. I'm really excited for our future collaborations. Thank you for continuing to inpire me! Laurens Klerkx, you brought me on board at KTI after mentoring me in the final round of the Erasmus Mundus PhD competition. You were the best first supervisor I can imagine -always supportive, always reachable, always with an idea when I had a question about my research, but also always critical, challenging me to solidify my argumentation, read more, think more intensely or connectively about issues, and really straightforward. I have passed on two bits of your wonderfully idiosyncratic advice to many others: "No one cares about your PhD but you" and "Kill your darlings" (in reference to paper-writing). This and much other advice, challenge, and inspiration from you have helped me to become a solid and very happy scientist. Thank you! Mi amor Diego Gutierrez Sanchez, gracias totales a vos por tu amistad, por enseñarme la vida salvaje en Managua, por nuestros viajes juntos cruzando Nicaragua y, cla...

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Editorial: Resetting Power in Global Food Governance: The UN Food Systems Summit

Cited by 31 publications

References 19 publications

Civil society engagement in food systems governance in Canada: Experiences, gaps, and possibilities

Civil society engagement in food systems governance in Canada: Experiences, gaps, and possibilities

‘Finprint’ technopolitics and the corporatisation of global food governance

Growing agroecology in Nicaragua : Towards a multi-scale perspective on agroecological transitions

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