Abstract
Growing acknowledgement that food systems require transformation, demands comprehensive sustainability assessments that can support decision-making and sustainability governance. To do so, assessment frameworks must be able to make trade-offs and synergies visible and allow for inclusive negotiation on food system outcomes relevant to diverse food system actors. This paper reviews literature and frameworks and builds on stakeholder input to present a Sustainability Compass made up of a comprehensive set of metrics for food system assessments. The Compass defines sustainability scores for four societal goals, underpinned by areas of concern. We demonstrate proof of concept of the operationalization of the approach and its metrics. The Sustainability Compass is able to generate comprehensive food system insights that enables reflexive evaluation and multi-actor negotiation for policy making.
Highlights
The need for food systems transformation is broadly acknowledged (Caron et al, 2018; Fanzo, 2021; Fanzo and Davis, 2019; HLPE, 2020; Rockstrom et al, 2020; Webb et al, 2020; Willett et al, 2019)
Given the plurality of perspectives to achieving transformation in food systems (Bene et al, 2019b; Herrero et al, 2020, 2021; Klerkx and Begemann, 2020; Klerkx and Rose, 2020; Leach et al, 2020; Loboguerrero et al, 2020; Rose et al, 2021) and the growing urgency to manage trade-offs (Oliver et al, 2018; Zurek et al, 2021), it is vital that such frameworks accommodate evaluation of ‘directionality’ and ‘reflexivity’ (Kugelberg et al, 2021; TEEB 2018) to support decision making for equitable sustainability strategies (Leach et al, 2010; Patterson et al, 2017)
While food safety and food waste have become common for food systems frameworks, under-represented are metrics for social welfare, animal welfare, and economy (Jones et al, 2016; Stefanovic et al, 2020; TEEB 2018)
Summary
The need for food systems transformation is broadly acknowledged (Caron et al, 2018; Fanzo, 2021; Fanzo and Davis, 2019; HLPE, 2020; Rockstrom et al, 2020; Webb et al, 2020; Willett et al, 2019). The framework we present is designed to visualize the (lack of) progress vis-a-vis key sustainability goals and in doing so, make poten tial synergies or trade-offs in policy choices across different goals visible For its operationalization it requires inputs from various models and data sources to allow for the generation of a compass to anticipate policy outcomes in a complex food system. In the development of this framework we built on an interdisciplinary review of food system perspectives and metric-based frameworks, combined with extensive stakeholder consultation (Zurek et al, 2018) This allowed us to develop a framework that approaches sustainability in food systems from four interconnected, desired societal perspectives: 1) Healthy, adequate, and safe diets for all; 2) Clean and healthy planet; 3) Economically thriving food systems supportive of the common good; and 4) Just, ethical, and equitable food systems. We present an optional set of indicators, suitable for European food systems
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