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Feeding a planet inhabited by 7,700 million people is not an easy task. Everyone needs, expects and has the right to a healthy diet. Every farmer needs, expects and has the right to a decent life. The approximately ten million other species on the planet need a habitat in which they can survive. And every business that produces, processes, and transports food needs and expects to make a profit.
But several things are failing. More than 820 million people suffer from chronic hunger. Another 2 billion suffer from micronutrient deficiencies, such as a lack of vitamins or protein. About 650 million adults are obese, an epidemic caused, in part, by ultra-processed foods that are filled with sugar, saturated fat, and other chemical additives.
And the problems go far beyond hunger and diet. Current agro-industrial practices are the main cause of deforestation, depletion and contamination of water and soils, and the collapse of biodiversity. To top it off, human-induced climate change is wreaking havoc on crop production. And because there will be further warming and population growth going forward, the crisis will worsen unless decisive changes are made.
The food industry is a driving force of the global economy, but it is clear that solving the many intersecting food crises will be impossible unless the food industry changes its ways of acting.
Fortunately there is an important light of hope. An increasing number of companies in the industry understand the challenge and want to forge a new direction that is consistent with human health and planetary survival.
Some of these industry leaders, convened by the Barilla Foundation, have asked us to help identify the steps necessary to align the food sector with sustainable development, and with two key international agreements: the 17 Sustainable Development Goals and the Agreement. Paris climate. To do so they must address four essential questions. First, do your products and strategies contribute to healthy and sustainable diets? We know that the fast food culture is killing us. The industry urgently needs to change to promote healthy diets.
Second, are production practices sustainable? Too many companies are engaged in practices that cause chemical contamination, They produce large amounts of waste from their packaging or cause deforestation.
Third, are your suppliers sustainable? And finally, is the company a good corporate citizen? Or do you use aggressive tax practices or try to exploit legal loopholes or weaknesses in control entities to take advantage?
While many companies claim to support the goal of sustainable development, very few report on how healthy their product lines are or how they contribute to healthy and sustainable dietary patterns. Very few recognize that they are part of the environmental crisis, either directly, due to their own production, or as buyers of products produced at critical environmental points. like the Amazon or Indonesia. And companies do not report in detail on their tax practices. In short, the food industry’s commitment to sustainability is all too often a sentiment filled with good intentions rather than data and monitoring.
But we are not pessimistic. Throughout the world, young people demand a safe and sustainable way of living and doing business. So we believe that companies will also change. After all, companies need satisfied customers, motivated workers, and the respect of society as an unspoken “license to do business.”
JEFFREY D. SACHS AND ANGELO RICCABONI *
© Project Syndicate.* Jeffrey D. Sachs is director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University. Angelo Riccaboni is president of the Santa Chiara Lab, at the U. of Siena.
