Hidden Costs: Sustainable food systems could bring $10 trillion of benefits a year
It has been found that existing food systems destroy more value than they create due to hidden environmental and medical costs, according to the most comprehensive economic study of its type – produced by the Food System Economics Commission.
The report highlighted that a shift towards a more sustainable food system could create up to $10 trillion of benefits a year, improve human health and ease the climate crisis that has been making billions of lives difficult across the globe.
Transforming the food system can be politically challenging but bring huge benefits, said the international team of authors behind the study. Johan Rockström of the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research said the global food system controls the future of humanity.
Notable benefits of global food system transformation
The existing food systems drive a third of global greenhouse gas emissions, putting the planet on course for 2.7 degrees Celsius of heating by the end of 2100. This creates a dangerous cycle as higher temperatures trigger more extreme events and greater damage to harvests.
Food insecurity is also known to put considerable burden on medical systems. The study stressed that a business-as-usual approach is likely to leave 640 million people underweight by 2050, and increase levels of obesity by a concerning 70%.
The proposed transition can help limit global heating to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels – as noted in the landmark 2015 Paris agreement, a legally binding international treaty on climate change – and halve nitrogen run-offs from agriculture.
The recent report also highlighted that less food insecurity could help eradicate undernutrition by the middle of the century, in addition to 174 million fewer premature deaths and 400 million farm workers able to earn a sufficient income.
Main challenge of the proposed food transition is …
Overall, the researchers estimate the costs of the transformation at between 0.2% and 0.4% of global GDP per year. The study proposes directing financial incentives towards smallholders who could turn farms into carbon sinks with more space for wildlife.
In early research, the authors of the study found food as the largest sector of the economy breaching planetary boundaries. Besides the climate impact, the sector is also a major driver of land-use change and biodiversity decline, and has prominent impact on freshwater sources, as per the Guardian.
The main challenge of the proposed food transition is that costs of food is likely to rise. Rockström said such circumstances must be handled with political dexterity and support for poor sections of society, in order to avoid the possibility of protests.
Five goals for food systems of the future
The Food System Economics Commission also highlighted five objectives for the food systems of the future – one that is inclusive, health-enhancing and environmentally sustainable.
1. Consumption of healthy diets by all
2. Strong food system livelihoods
3. Protection of intact lands and restoration of degraded lands
4. Environmentally sustainable food production
5. Resilient food systems that maintain food and nutrition security in the short and the long run
The report comes just a day after climate activists on Sunday hurled soup at the bulletproof glass protecting the iconic Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum in Paris and shouted slogans advocating for a sustainable food system. They said “our farming system is sick.”
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