COVID-19 showed the weakest links in our food systems. Can we change them? (Thin-Ink)

Thin-Ink.net published an in-depth article that discusses how the pandemic, for many, led to massive job loss and sudden drops in incomes, which in turn cause people to cut back on what and how often they eat. The 2021 Global Food Policy Report (GFPR) addresses these losses and the economy in its 124-page report. It brings together many countries’ responses to COVID-19, what responses were successful, which ones failed, and how lessons learned from those responses can lead to stronger, more equitable food systems. In the foreword, IFPRI’s Director General Johan Swinnen struck an optimistic note. “2021 is a year of urgency but also of hope. Vaccines are being distributed, and the health and economic shocks of the pandemic have stimulated creativity and reforms in the private and public sectors. The experience has sparked a willingness to think beyond traditional perspectives — economic, technological, and political. 2021 is also the year of global summits on food systems, climate, and nutrition. Together, this creates an unusual opportunity for the world to choose radical change.” The article uses charts and graphics from the Report to describe what food systems should seek to achieve. An ideal food system, according to the Report focuses on health, resilience, inclusiveness, sustainability, and efficiency.