Off The Shelf #2: What's in a Sustainable Food System?

Spoiler alert: it ain't just about saving the environment

May 14, 2022

Big mistake. First ‘real’ edition of Off The Shelf and I’ve already bitten off more than I can chew. But at least I’ve got straight into it with a tasty pun. There you go, that's two.

Turns out, this is a ridiculously big question. And it will take more than a 3-minute read on a Saturday to answer. But I think we can set the ball rolling and throw some ideas about so let’s jump straight in (see? I told you I would mix a lot of metaphors).

Sustainability = saving the planet, right? Making sure the sloth still has enough trees available so he doesn’t have to go to Dunelm to buy a bed.

Well, yes. Solving today’s environmental challenges is obviously a big part of creating a sustainable food system. There are hundreds of these challenges out there. You can probably name at least 5 yourself.

And loads of them roll up to one thing: reducing emissions from greenhouse gases. Most estimates put food production as responsible for around a third of all greenhouse gas emissions globally. And there are loads of different activities contributing to this:

🪓 Deforestation to clear land for agriculture, which causes global warming, reducing food production and increasing demand for even more farmland, leading to – yep, more deforestation

💨 Intensive livestock farming leading to a build-up of methane, which warms the atmosphere

🚛 Food getting shuttled around the globe, with the miles racking up by plane, boat and truck, with all the emissions that entails

⚠️ The use of single use plastics in food packaging, which break down into microplastics and wreak havoc with biodiversity

🗑 The creation of food waste which goes to landfill, creating more methane – see above…

You get the picture. There’s a lot to do on the environmental side. Tackle these foodie failings and help get the planet back to a healthy equilibrium.

But I poked around a bit, and there’s more to sustainable food than the environment. The UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation defines a sustainable food system as ‘a food system that delivers food security and nutrition for all in such a way that the economic, social and environmental bases to generate food security and nutrition for future generations are not compromised.’ Emphases mine.

So this definition leads with food security, which is a fascinating angle: this is where logistics comes in. We heard all about “just in time” supply chains during the pandemic, where there’s a carefully managed balance between stocks and consumer demand to try to make sure shelves stay well-stocked at all times. All it takes is a shock like, say, and a pandemic, natural disaster or a war, and suddenly a fragile system built on just-in-time principles can break down quickly.

The UN goes on then to mention nutrition - key to public health - and talks about economic and social bases before the environment is even mentioned! And what’s really intrigued me are the words for all. Think about it for a second. Inequality is rife when it comes to food. Imagine the most ‘sustainable’ products you can get from your local farm shop, and then ask yourself if the lowest earners stand a chance of getting hold of them. Between 2001 and 2016, the life expectancy gap between the most and least affluent women in England increased from 6.1 years to 7.9 years. That trend is the same for men. In other words, rich people live longer than poor people, and the difference is only growing. Food habits and diets surely have to come into that.

So it isn’t just about the environment. There’s so much more to creating a sustainable food system. I’ve just scratched the surface. What do you think is the key to sustainable food? What have I missed? Let us hear it in the comments.

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MORSELS

🌴 Palm oil could be back on the table as the war in Ukraine takes its toll on sunflower oil supply chains.

🍀 Seaweed is a carbon sucker which can help feed the world… and save it

💰 Tesco and the WWF are giving money to sustainable supply chain innovators here in the UK.

ENTERPRISE SPOTLIGHT

This week I’m introducing you to the charming Woodoaks Farm in Maple Cross in Hertfordshire. This place is close to my heart, because it’s where, on a stroll one sunny day last year, we came up with the concept for - and a few months later, launched - our Slothy Chef pop ups with great success. There’s an awesome brewery (in an old milking shed!) and cafe onsite.

Sustainability is at the heart of everything that goes on down there: the farm was gifted a few years ago by the owner to the Soil Association, who have taken it upon themselves to put the farm through an organic transformation.

This is an extremely exciting time - they’ve been planting hedgerows, hosting food waste seminars, enhancing the farm’s infrastructure, introducing a market gardener, planting trees, and much more. Expect to see this place become a hub for sustainable business in the area - and I’m excited to have been involved from the start.

HOW CAN WE STAY IN TOUCH?

📸I’m on Instagram where I chronicle my cooking @slothychef

👤Same deal for Facebook Slothy Chef

🐦I’m starting out on Twitter - and I need some followers @slothychef

📧 Drop me a note at info@slothychef.co.uk

GROWING OUR COMMUNITY

🪴 I’ve got big ideas about building a community around this subject. I hope you can get involved. It would mean so much to me if you could share across your networks using the button below.

❤️ It also helps massively if you could give me a sign that you like this!

UNTIL NEXT SATURDAY…. SLOTHY OUT

🦥 👋🏻🎤