The sustainability of food systems is a necessity. This is explained by French doctor Florence Egal, specialized in public health, food safety and nutrition at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in an interview with Comer La Vanguardia carried out within the framework of the recent edition of Science.
Florence Egal is a firm defender of the need for a change in the way we produce and consume our food on a daily basis, which must begin with the integration of different agents based on this goal. Egal, who has a holistic approach to sustainability, explains that for this “we have to work in consensus because all actors must begin to have a common vision.”
Given the challenge of aligning different actors and interests is one of the biggest barriers we face when we talk about sustainability in food systems, Egal explains that “sustainability is not enough. Changes are slow. In academia, it has long been known. talks about sustainability, but governments and the public are just beginning to think about it. But this common vision, which he considers necessary to generate changes, must also respect certain differences according to the region where it is applied. “Sustainability has to be economically viable, culturally acceptable, compatible with the environment and must have an equity component. This great framework should be a reference for everyone,” establishes the expert.
And talking about food sustainability in Denmark is not the same as in Sudan, India or Brazil. As an example, Egal explains that “if I tell you ‘you should eat insects at lunchtime,’ you won’t really like the idea; so we have to keep in mind that in some cultures it works, while in others it doesn’t.” But measures to promote the sustainability of food systems must be adapted to local realities, which also begins with regulation. “In Europe, many are trying to avoid regulations, because they all focus on economics and need standardization, but that is not what we want if we try to promote sustainability. European regulations must be questioned,” he says.
Being able to reconcile a global framework with a local vision of sustainability requires appropriate spaces for dialogue and communication. “We need to connect the local with the global. Only at the local level can the environmental, social and cultural aspects necessary for sustainability come together,” she explains. Dialogues must be able to connect the different actors that revolve around sustainability, from institutional governance to producers and consumers, which can make the offer available in different regions more visible. “It is not that the city should absorb everything that is produced or import from other parts of the world without looking at the social or environmental costs that this generates. We have to relocate much more,” said Egal.
One of the keys to sustainability would be to give visibility to the products that we already have available locally. “We have to work much more at a territorial level. For example, if we talk about Barcelona, ??see what can be achieved in the surroundings of the city, make an inventory of the people who work on this and sit them around the same table to see how they can cooperate,” explains Egal. Her key message goes directly to a transformation of food systems that begins with teamwork at a local scale so that these examples can be emulated at a global level.
Talking about sustainability is not enough for Egal, who concludes that a true transformation in food systems must adapt to different local realities and needs. But this requires much more communication and coordination between actors at all levels, from those who make the laws to those who cultivate the land.
