Equitable Pathways to Sustainable and Healthy Food Systems

Ensuring pathways to sustainable food systems are equitable is a moral and existential imperative. Food systems are sustainable when they promote responsible use of natural resources, protect biodiversity, and mitigate the environmental impact of production, distribution, and consumption. They are equitable when they create a just and inclusive environment where everyone can enjoy healthy and sustainably produced food. Equity and sustainability are deeply intertwined and cannot be dealt with separately. This Policy Brief offers a roadmap to equitable and sustainable food systems that draws on a body of work produced by an international network of researchers, via their partnership in the Food Equity Centre. It recommends action at local, national, and international levels that addresses four dimensions of justice: (1) recognition and support of groups marginalised from different aspects of food systems; (2) their meaningful representation in decision-making processes and spaces; (3) redistribution of resources and opportunities to rebalance and restructure food systems, and (4) reparation of harm caused to people and nature, by restoring biological and socio-cultural diversity. The time is right for the G20 to champion the food system transformation required to address the dual challenges of equity and sustainability.