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Food systems governance should be preceded by food systems diplomacy

Nature Food volume 3, pages 667–670 (2022)Cite this article

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The practice by which international actors consider and engage with negotiations that influence the food system — food systems diplomacy — has the potential to reframe the global food governance narrative to balance the health, social, environmental and economic domains of food systems.

Governance decisions in food systems often prioritize the economic domain — specifically, commercial interests and enterprise1. Although it is widely accepted that the challenges of our global food system feature interconnections between multiple domains, the prioritization of commercial interests often happens at the expense of environmental, social and population health issues. Environmental issues affected include biodiversity loss, ecosystems polluted by chemical run-off and fertilizers, and a multitude of devastating impacts related to climate change2. Economic issues include market volatility that affects producers, low wages for workers throughout the food system and the relative unaffordability of healthy foods — for example, nutrient-rich, non-staple foods are several times more expensive than staples3. Social issues include poor working conditions, a lack of rights for farm-workers and high rates of food insecurity and malnutrition despite food abundance3,4. Population health issues within the realm of food systems include food insecurity, undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, diet-related chronic diseases, and the safety and health of labourers on farms and throughout food supply chains5 — issues that also have disproportionate impacts among socially disadvantaged groups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Nutritional Sciences Program, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Divya Himangi Garg

  2. Nutritional Sciences Program, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Marie L. Spiker

  3. John Glenn College of Public Affairs, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Jill K. Clark

  4. Centre for Food Policy, School of Health and Psychological Sciences, University of London, London, UK

    Christian Reynolds

  5. Nutritional Sciences Program, Department of Occupational and Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Jennifer J. Otten

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  1. Divya Himangi Garg
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  4. Christian Reynolds
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  5. Jennifer J. Otten
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Correspondence to Divya Himangi Garg.

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Nature Food thanks Peter Andree and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Garg, D.H., Spiker, M.L., Clark, J.K. et al. Food systems governance should be preceded by food systems diplomacy. Nat Food 3, 667–670 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-022-00595-8

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