Conscious food systems pushed to tackle farming woes

Farmers, scientists and development specialists meeting in Bhutan are promoting “conscious food systems” as a response to pressures on agriculture, including climate change, degraded soil and the financial strain facing producers.

Andrew Bovarnick, head of food systems at the United Nations Development Programme, said current food production systems are “not really fit for purpose” and argued that technology alone cannot fix the problems. He is among members of the Global Conscious Food Systems Alliance calling for food production that gives more weight to the environment, farmers and consumers, rather than focusing mainly on profit or output.

The advocates say consumers should be more closely connected to where their food comes from and to the people who grow it. Indian farmer Ashish Gupta, who works a smallholding in Himachal Pradesh as part of a cooperative, said small organic producers face barriers in reaching shoppers and struggle when floods ruin a harvest.

The meeting in Paro has included discussions of mindful eating and examples such as a project in Egypt that has moved 50,000 farmers into regenerative agriculture.

Bhutan’s Agriculture Minister Lyonpo Younten Phuntsho said the country faces an ageing farm workforce, rural-to-urban migration and people leaving the country. He said Bhutan hopes to use its environment to produce higher-value goods, but that this depends on consumers caring about how and where food is produced.