Re-Thinking Food: Transforming Food Systems for People and Planet | Frank Eyhorn | TEDxIHEID

Summary

The speaker urges a paradigm shift in our approach to food, highlighting its potential as a solution to pressing global challenges. Drawing on personal experience with apple orchards, they expose the environmental and health impacts of conventional farming practices. Advocating for sustainable systems, they emphasize the need for consumer behavior change and policy reform to create a food system that nourishes both people and the planet, while combating climate change and biodiversity loss.

Takeaways

• 🍏 The speaker encourages a shift in perspective on food as a powerful lever to address contemporary challenges.
• 🧠 The analogy of Sir Isaac Newton's enlightenment from an apple is used to symbolize a fresh approach to understanding food systems.
• 🌳 Personal experience with apple orchards highlights the extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, impacting both health and environment.
• 🌍 The food system's impact on the planet is profound, with agriculture significantly altering landscapes and ecosystems.
• 🐝 Pesticides reduce beneficial insect populations, disrupting natural pest control and necessitating further chemical use.
• 🏞️ The current agricultural practices contribute to soil degradation, loss of biodiversity, and negative environmental impacts.
• 🍽️ Despite the environmental toll, the food system fails to provide healthy food equitably, with many suffering from hunger or poor diet.
• 🌱 The potential for sustainable farming practices to mitigate climate change through carbon sequestration in soil is emphasized.
• 🛒 Consumer choices significantly influence food production methods, suggesting that collective behavior change can drive a sustainable food system.
• 💰 The economic argument is made for taxing unsustainable farming and subsidizing ecological practices to reflect true costs.
• 🌾 The script refutes the notion that ecological farming cannot feed the world, citing successful examples of increased yields and profits.
• 🌳 The push-pull technology in maize farming is highlighted as an effective ecological system improving yields and farmer profits in Africa.
• 🌐 The need for systemic change in the political economy and behavior to transform food systems for the better is underscored.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the speaker's speech?

The main purpose of the speaker's speech is to encourage people to think differently about food, emphasizing its power to address key challenges of our time.

How does the speaker use the apple as a metaphor in their speech?

The speaker uses the apple as a metaphor to illustrate the complex interactions and interdependencies in our food system, drawing parallels to how simple food items can reveal broader environmental and health impacts.

What personal experience does the speaker share about apples?

The speaker shares their personal experience of growing up in a small village where their father had an apple orchard, describing how they helped with pruning, harvesting, and selling apples, and later realizing the extensive use of pesticides and fertilizers in apple orchards.

What environmental impacts are associated with current agricultural practices according to the speaker?

The speaker highlights several environmental impacts of current agricultural practices, including soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and pollution from pesticides and fertilizers. They also mention that intensive agriculture contributes significantly to these problems.

How does the speaker suggest the food system affects global biodiversity?

The speaker suggests that the food system significantly affects global biodiversity, with 70% of biodiversity loss attributed to agriculture and a decline in insect and bird populations due to intensive farming practices.

What is the speaker's view on the current state of global food security?

The speaker believes that the current food system fails to produce healthy food effectively, as one in three people suffer from hunger or lack access to adequate food, and many people consume imbalanced diets.

What potential solution does the speaker offer to address the negative impacts of the food system?

The speaker suggests that transforming food systems to adopt sustainable practices can produce enough healthy food while preserving the environment and improving livelihoods. They emphasize the importance of ecological farming and reducing the use of agrochemicals.

How does the speaker link food systems to climate change?

The speaker links food systems to climate change by stating that one-third of greenhouse gas emissions come from the food system. They highlight that adopting farming practices that enhance soil carbon storage can help mitigate climate change.

What are the economic implications of the current food system according to the speaker?

The speaker states that the current food system incurs hidden environmental, health, and poverty-related costs amounting to $20 trillion, which is double the sector's generated revenue. They criticize the use of public subsidies for unsustainable farming practices.

What specific farming technology does the speaker mention as an example of a successful sustainable practice?

The speaker mentions the 'push-pull' technology used in maize farming in Sub-Saharan Africa as a successful sustainable practice. This technique uses cover crops to deter pests and fix nitrogen, leading to higher yields and profits for smallholder farmers.

What does the speaker propose as a key requirement for transforming the food system?

The speaker proposes that changing the rules of the game, such as altering the political economy and encouraging behavior change, is crucial for transforming the food system. They emphasize the need for collective action to achieve sustainable food production.

How does the speaker view the role of consumers in the food system?

The speaker views consumers as having a significant role in the food system, stating that consumer choices influence what is produced and how. They encourage consumers to adopt sustainable food habits and support organic and diverse food options.

Outlines

00:00

🍎 The Impact of Food on Society and Environment

The speaker emphasizes the importance of rethinking our approach to food, highlighting its significant impact on addressing global challenges. Using the example of an apple from their garden, they discuss the harmful effects of pesticides and fertilizers on health and the environment. The talk explores the complexities of food production and its broader implications, urging a shift in perspective to understand how our food choices shape the planet and societies.

05:02

🌍 The Consequences of Agricultural Practices

The speaker delves into the environmental repercussions of current agricultural practices, such as soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and erosion. They point out the extensive land use for agriculture visible from an aerial view and discuss how different farming methods impact rural communities and ecosystems. The alarming statistics on soil degradation and biodiversity loss are presented to underscore the urgency of changing our food production systems.

10:03

📉 The Inefficiency of the Food System

Highlighting the inefficiencies and inequalities within the food system, the speaker reveals that despite its vast impact, it fails to provide healthy food for a significant portion of the population. They discuss issues like hunger, malnutrition, and the paradox of food waste alongside food scarcity. The economic costs of the current system are also scrutinized, showing how subsidies and market choices contribute to unsustainable practices.

♻️ The Potential for Sustainable Food Systems

The speaker offers hope by discussing the potential for transforming the food system into a sustainable one that benefits both people and the planet. They emphasize the importance of adopting sustainable farming practices that sequester carbon, improve soil health, and support biodiversity. The role of photosynthesis in carbon capture and the benefits of humus-rich soils in climate resilience are highlighted as key components of a sustainable approach.

🍃 Practical Steps Towards Sustainability

Practical steps for individuals to contribute to a sustainable food system are outlined, such as buying organic, local, and seasonal produce, reducing food waste, and choosing a plant-based diet. The speaker stresses that consumer choices drive production practices and that collective action can lead to significant changes. The importance of not being dogmatic about food choices but rather making informed, health-conscious decisions is emphasized.

💡 The Economic and Health Impacts of Food Choices

The economic and health impacts of food choices are examined, revealing the hidden costs of cheap food and the burden on public funds and health systems. The speaker argues for policy changes to support sustainable farming through taxation of harmful practices and subsidies for beneficial ones. They highlight the discrepancy between the apparent and true costs of food, advocating for a shift in public spending to promote sustainability.

🌱 Success Stories in Sustainable Agriculture

Success stories in sustainable agriculture, such as the push-pull technology in maize farming in Sub-Saharan Africa, are shared to illustrate the feasibility and benefits of ecological farming practices. These examples demonstrate higher yields, better nutrition, and increased profits for smallholder farmers. The speaker asserts that sustainable methods can nourish a growing population without compromising the foundational elements of food production.

🔄 The Need for Systemic Change

The speaker calls for systemic change in the political and economic frameworks governing the food system. They argue that addressing climate change, poverty, public health, and environmental preservation can be achieved through a reformed food system. The talk concludes with a reminder of the interconnectedness of food-related issues and a call to action for society to prioritize food sustainability for a healthier planet and future.

Keywords

💡Food System

The 'food system' refers to the entire process from production to consumption, including farming, processing, distribution, and waste management. In the video, it is emphasized as a critical lever for addressing environmental and societal challenges, highlighting how our choices in food production and consumption shape the planet and our health.

💡Agrochemicals

Agrochemicals are chemical products used in agriculture, including pesticides and fertilizers. The speaker discusses the negative impacts of these chemicals on human health and the environment, mentioning that apple orchards are sprayed numerous times a year with substances that can be harmful.

💡Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in a particular ecosystem or on the planet. The script points out that intensive agriculture is a major factor in the loss of biodiversity, with a significant portion of land allocated to agriculture and the subsequent decline in insect and bird populations.

💡Sustainable Agriculture

Sustainable agriculture is farming practices that maintain or enhance environmental quality, public health, and animal welfare while providing an adequate return to farmers. The video promotes this approach as a means to produce healthy food without harming the environment, mentioning organic management practices and robust apple varieties as examples.

💡Climate Change

Climate change is a long-term alteration in the Earth's climate patterns. The speaker notes that the food system contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions and suggests that sustainable farming can help mitigate this by storing carbon in the soil through photosynthesis.

💡Monocultures

Monocultures are large-scale agricultural systems where a single crop is grown over a large area. The video describes these as detrimental to the environment and biodiversity, contrasting them with more diverse agricultural systems.

💡Food Waste

Food waste refers to the discarding or spoilage of edible food. The script briefly touches on the issue of food waste, which is a significant problem globally, contributing to the inefficiency of the food system.

💡Push-Pull Technology

Push-pull technology is an ecological farming method that uses certain plants to deter pests (push) and attract them away from crops, while other plants (pull) draw pests to areas where they cannot cause damage. The video presents this as a successful example of sustainable farming practices in sub-Saharan Africa.

💡Subsidies

Subsidies are financial assistance provided by governments to support industries or sectors. The speaker criticizes the use of subsidies for unsustainable farming practices and suggests that they should instead support sustainable systems.

💡Environmental Costs

Environmental costs refer to the negative impacts on the environment due to human activities, often not directly accounted for in economic transactions. The video mentions the hidden costs of the food sector, which are significantly higher than the sector's economic output.

💡Behavior Change

Behavior change refers to shifts in human actions that lead to more sustainable or beneficial outcomes. The script emphasizes the need for consumers to change their food habits and for political and economic systems to support sustainable food practices.

Highlights

The speaker aims to change the audience's perspective on food as a powerful lever to address key challenges of our time.

The comparison of the food system's impact to Sir Isaac Newton's discovery of gravity, using an apple as a metaphor.

Personal story of growing up in an apple orchard and the realization of the harmful effects of pesticides and fertilizers.

The revelation that apple orchards are sprayed about 20 times a year with various pesticides.

The connection between the use of fertilizers and the increased susceptibility of apples to pests and diseases.

The impact of agrochemicals on beneficial insects and the ecological balance.

The food system's influence on the planet and societies, evident from a bird's perspective view of landscapes.

The prevalence of large-scale monocultures and their environmental implications.

The alarming rate of soil degradation and its contribution to environmental challenges.

The significant loss of biodiversity due to intensive agriculture.

The paradox of the food system's poor performance in producing healthy food despite its environmental impact.

The call to action for changing the food system to address climate change, one third of whose emissions come from the food system.

The potential of photosynthesis and ecological farming to store carbon in the soil.

The barriers to fixing the food system, including consumer habits and the reliance on certain apple varieties.

The economic argument for taxing unsustainable farming systems and subsidizing sustainable ones.

The hidden costs of the global food sector, which are twice the sector's total generation.

The potential of ecological farming to nourish a growing population without undermining food production's basis.

The push-pull technology in maize as an example of an ecological system that increases yields and profits.

The need for behavior change and political economy transformation to achieve a sustainable food system.

The multifaceted benefits of transforming the food system, including addressing climate change, poverty, health, and environmental preservation.

The reminder to enjoy food while considering its impact on various issues.

Transcripts

let me start by openly declaring the

intention of my speech i want you to

think differently about food

because i'm convinced it's currently one

of the most powerful levers we have to

address key challenges of our time

i want you to adopt a different

perspective

an enlightenment similar to when sir

isaac newton discovered the laws of

gravity which

appeared to him as he sat under a tree

and an apple fell on his head

so i brought an apple with me

from my own garden

don't worry i won't throw the apple at

you

i love apple so i'd rather try to seduce

you

with this apple

i want you to tell you a bit about my

own relationship about the apple

because i grew up in a small village

where my father used to have an apple

orchard and i helped him look after the

trees

i helped him pruning them

harvesting the fruits

processing them into jews or selling

them to our neighbors

only when i grew up i realized

that apple orchards are sprayed about 20

times a year with various pesticides

many of them are known to be harmful to

people and to the environment

in order to boost the growth of the

trees

a lot of fertilizers are used which at

the same time make the apples more

susceptible to pests and diseases

so that again more pesticides have to be

used and to make things worse

beneficial insects which could control

the pests are denim

diminished by this chemical load

you may think hey come on what's new

about this i know that agrochemicals are

bad

what i want you to illustrate here is

that once we dig deeper into a simple

food item like an apple a whole system

of complex interactions and

interdependencies unfolds

and what is true for the apple applies

also to other food items and when we

look at the entire food system from farm

to fork

we realize that what we eat and how we

produce our food

shapes the face of the planet and of our

societies like no other human activity

this becomes particularly evident if you

adopt a bird's perspective

the next time you fly if you still do

interrupt the board entertainment system

for a moment and take a closer look

beyond

below you on the landscapes there

it's fascinating

you can see how much land is dedicated

to agriculture and how much is left to

nature or how little

in the agricultural land you can

distinguish large large-scale

monocultures

or highly diverse systems

and it's not difficult to imagine that

different land use patterns differently

affect people but also the rural

communities who live there

the current ways which we are using our

agricultural land have a very strong

impact on soils

about 52 of our arable soils are already

degraded every five minutes we are

losing the equivalent of a football

field to soil erosion

intensive agriculture is also one of the

most

determining factor for the loss of

biodiversity

about 70 percent of biodiversity laws of

land are allocated to agriculture

and studies show that in the last 30

years

we have already lost about three quarter

of our insect populations

and 13 percent of the bird eat insect

eating bird populations

all these environmental impacts don't

make really sense if you see that the

food system fulfills its purpose of

producing healthy food rather poorly

i mean one in three people

they either suffer from hunger or they

don't have access to adequate food

for about 3 billion people they are

consuming an imbalanced diet which is

not good for their health or they are

simply eating too much

not to forget that

the food system these activities

provide a source of livelihood for

billions of people who produce process

prepare or sell the food so it's an

enormously important

sector

i could go on and talk about

deforestation

water depletion pollution cruelty to

farm animals all related to the food

system

i deeply care about these issues and i'm

sure many of you do care as well

the good news is

we can change this

because food has such an enormous impact

on people and planet

setting the food system right

can really go a long way we can achieve

so much

we have the opportunity to

produce enough healthy food in a way

that preserves the environment and

allows people to earn a decent living

all in one go

if you get it right

we even have the possibility to address

one of the most pressing challenges of

our time climate change

one third of the greenhouse gas

emissions

stem from the food system

and by now we know that simply replacing

fossil fuels with renewable energies

won't be sufficient to achieve net zero

emissions we need technologies that

absorb and remove carbon from the

atmosphere

such a technology already exists

proven since billions of years and it's

called

photosynthesis

examples show that we can design farming

systems in a way

that part of the carbon fixed by the

plants is stored where it belongs

in the soil as humans

and soils which are rich in humus they

are also better able to absorb water in

times of strong rainfall

or to keep and retain the moisture in

times of drought

both obviously very vital functions in

the face of climate change

so

what keeps us from

fixing our food system from getting it

right

we all know you should buy organic food

local seasonal fare

not to waste too much food it's good to

consume a balanced diet mainly

plant-based

luckily what's good for your own health

is also good for the planetary health

but we also know that knowing all this

is not enough

let me get back to the apple

to the biblical fruit from the tree of

knowledge of good and evil

no need to turn food into a religion no

need to be dogmatic about it

of course you can turn vegan but you

don't have to

however it's definitely a good idea to

occasionally revisit your food habits

and take your own steps towards a

sustainable food system that is better

for your own health and the planet's

health

because we are the market

we determine what's produced and how

let me illustrate that with the apple

proven organic management practices and

robust tasty varieties like the one in

my hand they do exist

isn't it appealing it's

no chemicals used and i harvested it

about six months ago

but because

people are used to certain varieties

and most of them happen to be highly

susceptible to pests and diseases

retailers keep offering these varieties

in the shelves and farmers keep

producing them

and because we consumers refuse certain

apples of a small size or with a with a

small spot

farmers keep using a lot of

agrochemicals

we are all part of this system and we

can only change it together

from a macroeconomic perspective

if you look at the food system

we realize that seemingly cheap food

is enormously expensive

scientists have calculated

that

the global food sector causes 20

trillion dollars in hidden environmental

health and poverty related costs

which is about twice as much as the

entire sector generates

governments are using 540 billion

dollars every year for subsidies

for

mostly unsustainable systems

using public money in a way that harms

public good it doesn't seem rational

does it

instead of subsidizing unsustainable

farming systems shouldn't we tax them

and use that money to subsidize

sustainable systems so that they can

unfold their true competitive value and

become the new normal

i mean in the end we are

paying for cheap food four times

first at the cash counter

second when we pay taxes which are used

to pay subsidies or to

undo part of the damage cost

third with our health bills for food

related health issues

and finally as we pass on a heavy bill

to future generations

you may think wait a moment

can we really feed the world with

ecological

farming

isn't it that a growing population needs

more food higher yields and therefore

more agrochemicals and biotechnology to

produce them

well if overall food scarcity was the

problem

would we use 40 percent of our precious

arable lands to produce feed

for animals and i'm not talking about

pastures the cropland

would we waste one third of the food

produced

however yes yields do matter

particularly in contexts like

sub-saharan africa

where many farmers struggle to get

sufficient harvests

and my organization biovision is working

in these contexts since more than 20

years helping farmers and researchers to

develop clever productive ecological

systems and it works

i want to show you one of these systems

because i really think it's fascinating

the push-pull technology in maize

cover crops grown between the rays maze

rose

they have a smell which deters the

insect pests so that they are pushed

outside and at the same time they are

attracted by the scent of a grass crop

of a photograph

where they can't propagate

the cover crop also is suppressing weeds

and it's fixing nitrogen from the air

and makes it available as a free of cost

natural fertilizers to the maize plants

tens of thousands of smallholder farmers

in sub-saharan africa have adopted this

system successfully

realizing higher yields but also higher

profits and the better nutrition than

their conventional peers

and many such systems exist

i'm convinced that as a society we can

transform food systems we can

nourish a growing population

we have the technology we have the tools

we will not be able to feed the world

with

approaches which are undermining the

very basis of food production

which are healthy soil

clean water

biodiversity and healthy people

so we do have the possibility to change

our food systems

what is needed is

to change the rules of the game what is

needed is behavior change

and changing

the the political economy if you wish

because

in the end much is at stake

if we don't act

as we have just seen but if we do act

we have the possibility as a society

to address many challenges and

development objectives in one go

addressing climate change

fighting poverty

improving public health

and preserving the environment

all we need to do is to give food the

attention it deserves

because food matters

the next time

you eat an apple or something else

maybe you think about how many issues

are linked to food

but despite all these thinking

don't forget to enjoy food

[Applause]

you