Each of us has a role to play in transforming food systems for the benefit of people and the planet. If we do not want to jeopardise the health of our planet and our entire population, we must encourage active participation in change at all levels and reorganise food systems as a whole.
The global food system is broken. There’s enough food to feed everyone in the world, but millions still live in poverty. Profit comes before people, and large-scale industrial agriculture dominated by a few big businesses is accelerating the climate crisis. This huge concentration of power held by big business at the cost of local communities and small farmers urgently needs rebalancing.
CAFOD’s new food campaign is urging the UK government to keep the promises it made at the COP26 climate talks last year and support agricultural systems that tackle the climate crisis as well as putting local communities first.
Climate change, the pandemic and the rising prices of food and agricultural products as a result of the Ukraine crisis, have together revealed the fragility of our current global food system.
At a time of crisis these impacts are mostly felt in low-income countries, but they also have serious repercussions at home, where earlier this year 9% of the UK population were experiencing food insecurity despite living in the fifth-largest economy in the world.
Our current global food system is not working for both people and planet. But together we can play our part in re-thinking it, and challenging the imbalance of power so that it works for everyone. Here are eight facts about the food system you may not be aware of.
The good news? Alternatives already exist and communities who work with CAFOD are leading the way, growing food in ways that are good for people and the planet.
Please watch this video to learn more about problems with the global food system and the solutions. Further information about the food crisis and CAFOD’s campaign is available from here.
You can take action to support this campaign by:
