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Food systems transformation requires strategic attention to political economy

Nature Food volume 4, pages 1020–1021 (2023)Cite this article

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Food systems must go through a fundamental transformation if they are to become environmentally sustainable, generate nutritional benefits and improve economic equity1,2. Yet, departing from status quo policies requires elevating political economy considerations within food system analyses, especially in an increasingly polarized world facing more and more expectations about what food systems can and should achieve. Such considerations include, but are not limited to, the distribution of costs and benefits to disparate groups from needed policy changes and the power those groups possess in local, national and global policy processes.

Probing incentive structures uncovers when and under which conditions certain reforms are more feasible. For instance, incentives driven by interests can be addressed more easily than those driven by ideas; indeed, opposition to sugar-sweetened beverage taxes may be more feasible to overcome with earmarks for health services when consumers are concerned about costs than when they hold deep-seated notions about autonomy of individual choice.

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Fig. 1: Political economy considerations for food systems transformation.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the following individuals whose contributions informed this paper: K. Anderson, C. Barrett, J. Battersby, J. Candel, K. Deconinck, N. de Mûelenaere, J. Fanzo, L. Fesenfeld, E. Gómez, J. Harris, G. Haysom, W. Martin, A. Matthews, J. Mockshell, S. Nordhagen, R. Paarlberg, T. Ritter, P. Scheelbeek, A. Strutt, Y. Sun and R. Vos.

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  1. International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, DC, USA

    Danielle Resnick & Johan Swinnen

  2. Brookings Institution, Washington, DC, USA

    Danielle Resnick

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  1. Danielle Resnick
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  2. Johan Swinnen
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Correspondence to Danielle Resnick.

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Resnick, D., Swinnen, J. Food systems transformation requires strategic attention to political economy. Nat Food 4, 1020–1021 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-023-00880-0

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