FAO.org

Within various academic fora, there is still much confusion around roles and responsibilities for creating more just and sustainable food systems. Recent events such as the COVID-19 pandemic have further highlighted tensions in these responsibilities, especially in terms of access, production, distribution, and retail. Whilst some have long called for reforming existing power structures for achieving more just and sustainable food systems, many grassroots initiatives have been taking responsibility in their own hands by tackling pressing issues related to food waste, access, sovereignty, and democracy, among others. At the same time, while food is increasingly at the center of diverse policy discussions from climate change to health and well-being, concrete outputs remain difficult to grasp. Food poverty and insecurity, combined with the environmental hazards caused by the current food system, are far from being resolved. Empirical and theoretical contributions are welcome, exploring any aspect of geographies of responsibility in the food system, which may include (but are not restricted to) the following themes: Power and responsibility in food systems; Disruptions of established forms of power and responsibility in times of crisis; Responsibility and governance across the food system; Disruptive innovations for just, sustainable food systems; Roles and responsibilities of academics, policy-makers, and activists for enacting change in food systems; Cultures of responsibility in food systems; Matters of scale and place in creating just, sustainable food systems; Mechanisms of co-option from and by private sector, policymakers, food movements; and academics.