
The BCFN Foundation has identified three key food paradoxes which encapsulate the main problems to resolve in order to create a development model which is focused on improving the sustainability of food systems.
The three food paradoxes represent a key touchstone, because they bring together highly contrasting sets of data, clearly highlighting the inconsistencies entrenched in our food system.
Solutions to these paradoxes were proposed and debated during Expo Milano 2015 and led to the creation of the Milan Protocol.
We produce enough food to feed everyone on the planet, but worldwide hunger is still a serious problem with 821 million people suffering from a shortage of food. At the same time, 2.1 billion people are suffering from obesity or are overweight.
This contradiction arises from unbalanced lifestyles and a range of deep and complex faults in our production, commercial and distribution systems, as well as education regarding food and nutrition.
We urgently need to feed a growing global population, and yet 40% of the world’s cereal resources are used to feed livestock and produce fuel.
Solving this paradox is a significant challenge because it means making responsible choices and allows us to question what sustainability is all about.
What does sustainability mean? Sustainability is a concept which arises from an idea as old as time itself. It is the ability to maintain the ecological processes which occur within an ecosystem into the future. And this is why sustainability means taking responsibility for younger generations.
In order to tackle the second food paradox, it is important to place the concept of sustainability as a guiding principle behind all of our decisions and prioritise the wellbeing of people and the planet.
Every year, we waste a third of the world’s production of food in the supply chain, during the processes of conservation, processing, distribution and consumption. The amount of food wasted is four times more than the quantity needed to feed all of the people around the world who are malnourished.
Consequently, food waste is both an economic and a moral problem, as well as an environmental issue: when waste breaks down in landfill sites, it releases methane gas, which is 20 times more harmful than carbon dioxide.
The third food paradox is a contradiction which we need to increasingly raise awareness about in order to encourage people to adopt behaviour conducive to improving food access for all.