Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
e de Shuter (2010)
f Foresight (2011) and Godfray,
et al
., (2010)
g Lang,
et al
., (2009)
h McIntyre,
et al
., (2009)
i National Researh Council (2010)
j Royal Society (2009)
k Sustainable Development Commission (2009)
l UNEP (2011)
m World Bank (2008)
By contrast, what we have classified as more transformational recommendations all
involve significant shifts in the structure and operation of the global food system,
suh that we necessarily begin to treat food not as a mere quantity. he recommend-
ations for alternative production systems involve both environmental and social as-
pects of food production. Many of these are offered by long-time proponents of more
sustainable and ecologically sound production systems. Suh hanges involve the re-
cognition of environmental limits and working with, rather than imposing tehno-
logical controls over, the ecosystems in whih food is produced. In addition, there is
the need to aknowledge the multiple outputs of agriculture and the multiple roles -
especially those of women and small-scale producers - that participate in food pro-
duction. Suh hanges in food production systems must also be re-embedded in con-
sumption systems suh that the environmental and social qualities inherent to the
food consumed are valued - and not just financially.
The literature offering broad-brush solutions to the food crisis establishes that
progress toward a more sustainable food system that meets the needs of the entirety
of the global population requires more than hange in individual behaviours and
practices - there is also a need for hange in governance structures. Suggestions for
basic hanges in food governance systems vary from those proposing more forward-
looking policies for managing food stoks that avoid the sharp luctuations in price,
to calls for food policy that incorporates environmental and social well-being. These
latter policies are necessary to promote consistent application and use of the prac-
tices required of individuals. here is, however, one drawbak in all these solutions
- whih is also, perhaps, the most compelling explanation of the limited ability of
alternatives to flourish against the totalizing claims of the business-as-usual model
of neoliberalized global food governance. Individually, eah of the solutions located
at the level of food governance operates at specific scales and in extremely distinct-
ive sites. In other words, they reside in a complex dilemma. They are all specifically
