AUTHORS: Nora Hiller – Faustine Bas-Defossez – David Baldock

This policy report explores systems thinking and essential actions around food system resilience in EU agriculture in the post-COVID-19 period. In preparation for the Farm to Fork conference, systems thinking is essential and action is required now.

Building a sustainable and fair food system, stretching from primary production to consumption in the home, is one of the greatest challenges. Resilience and preparedness for pandemics made it to the centre stage of politics, including the current Slovenian Council presidency. In the recovery from the pandemic, transformative spaces and long-term political strategies provide the opportunity to rethink how we produce, distribute and consume food.

The report gathers drivers of shocks that impact our food system and society, and opportunities to reduce these risks in the future. It goes through the question of how to learn from the pandemic, the opportunities to prevent and be able to face similar shock in the future. Embedded in a conceptual framework, three focus topics are explored in depth:

• Human-nature interaction and livestock
• Creating strong food supply chains and workers’ rights
• Working against unsustainable diets and food poverty

IEEP recently provided a commentary for the Heinrich Böll Foundation, based on this report. The short article can be found on their Brussels website here.