An introduction

What is a food system?

The food system includes activities involving the production, processing, transport and consumption of food. The food system also includes, for example, the governance and economics of food production, cultural values, the environment under which food is grown, and science and technology.

Sounds complex, doesn’t it? But you are a part of the food system too. Just look below to see where and how you fit into the bigger picture.

The basic elements of a food system (Source: ShiftN)

What makes a food system sustainable?

This is a question that I ask myself every day. From production to consumption, all components and processes related to the food we eat (or don’t eat) are parts of complex and dynamic systems. As a consultant, I explore the different ideas, messages and stories behind the social, environmental and economic sustainability of food systems around the globe. My goal is to give clarity to complexity and to help show how systems thinking can help us understand the power of food to address some of the most challenging issues of our time.

A night vendor in Yogyakarta market, Indonesia: fresh markets play a major role in the food systems of many regions of the world.