“Moving from food as a commodity to food as more of a common good.”
IASC member Marianne Penker was recently invited to the public hearing of the European Parliament on the new Farm to Fork Strategy. She argued that a new framing of food opens options for deep policy reforms that touch upon every part of the food system. What has to change if we consider food more as a common good?
This was debated in the suggested path towards a sustainable food system by the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors. Their advice was informed by the SAPEA Evidence Review Report, which was conducted independently to ensure academic rigour and prevent claims of political bias. The European Commission had contracted SAPEA – Scientific Advice by European Academies – to provide independent, interdisciplinary, and evidence-based scientific advice for the new Farm to Fork Strategy. Marianne Penker was co-author of this SAPEA report and a recently published comment in Nature Food:
Jackson, P., Rivera Ferre, M.G., Candel, J., Davies, A., Derani, C., de Vries, H., Dragović-Uzelac, V., Hoel, A.H., Holm, L., Mathijs, E., Morone, P., Penker, M., Śpiewak, R., Termeer, K., & Thøgersen, J. (2021). Food as a commodity, human right or common good. Nature Food 2: 132–134. https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-021-00245-5.
For further details see the evidence report downloadable on the SAPEA site and the Chief Advisors’ report at the EU publication office. The Farm to Fork Strategy is published on the website of the European Commission and the programme of the public hearing on the European Parliament ’s website.
