What is the Foodways System?
The term "foodways system" refers to all of the cultural, social, economic, and environmental factors that influence how people produce, distribute, prepare, consume, and dispose of food. It spans the entire process from start to finish within a particular social or cultural setting. Some aspects of food in this system are meta, others are unique to the culture.
The important takeaway from this definition is that it is a system.
A system is anything that has boundaries, inputs and outputs, interdependent components, and is influenced by the environment in which it exists. A system cycle (or circle) describes the interrelated, complex chain of events that reinforce through a feedback loop (the image to the right is a representation of the industrial foodways system cycle). A “virtuous” system cycle tends to have mostly favorable occurrences across the different stages; a “vicious” system cycle has primarily detrimental ones.
One can easily fall into the trap of thinking of our current foodways system is in the vicious category, given all the recent events over the last few years (COVID-19, wars, inflation, etc.). But if you step back and take a more expansive view, the transformation of our foodways systems over the several decades is nothing short of remarkable. The last few years, while bumpy and uncomfortable in some areas, reinforced the adaptability of the overall system. Frankly, the foodways system is probably closer to the economic theory of a "perfect market" than just about any industry I’ve studied.
One particular element of the system that the current environment has shown a harsh, unforgiving light on is food waste. Historical estimates are that we waste 40%-50% of the food produced in this country (it will be interesting to see that percent post-2020). It spans from food rotting in a field due to no profit from selling it to food thrown away due to aesthetic "defects" to excessive portions thrown away after a meal is complete. The fundamental problem under it all is that excess food has no way to be efficiently transported to those who need it.
If we allow only financial profit to be the arbiter of where food ultimately goes, we will find it challenging to address this problem. But if we start to consider optimizing the return across additional forms of capital, such as natural, material, human, or cultural, to name a few, then the foodways system becomes genuinely virtuous. Getting food to those who need it ultimately has a positive, dramatic influence at the early stages of food production.
When less food is wasted, the resources used to grow the food, including more than one trillion gallons of water, are not wasted. It also has the potential to cut greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 18 million tons (CO2MTE). And it has economic benefits, as currently, the country spends $218B a year growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that goes to waste. - World Wildlife Fund
If we thought the system was efficient before, imagine how much more it would be with knowledge of consumption and waste throughout the entire process.
There are two primary barriers to overcome if we are to make a significant reduction in food waste:
Business entities must redefine how they calculate returns, shifting from a singular focus on economic capital to optimization across nine capital forms, which encourages investment in building resilient communities. A great example of this is this investment firm's requirements of the companies it invests in http://ow.ly/N3MW50BmiMF.
The public and private sectors must collaborate because neither can accomplish this on their own. The Pacific Coast Collaborative is one example of leading one of the most extensive public-private collaborations to reduce food waste. http://ow.ly/Pp2c50BmiXB.
Just imagine the unfathomable impact on all aspects of our society by getting wasted food to those who need it, for whatever reason. Resources to grow food will be better allocated, accompanied by a reduction in agriculture's environmental impact. The resources used for growing, processing, transporting, and disposing of food that goes to waste can be targeted toward other challenges. When this happens, our society improves, as a healthy, better-fed society is more productive and happier.
That is something I think we would all agree is a laudable goal.
