Transformation of the FOOD SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION OF THE FOOD SYSTEMModel MODEL “
Eating is an agricultural act – Wendell Berry: farmer, poet, author and activist
Figure 13: The Pleasures of Eating (Berry 1990)
Above is a statement of individual empowerment (Figure 11), because it seems to suggest that every time we make choices about what we eat and who we purchase products from, we are voting on the direction in which we want our food system to move. Importantly, from the farmers to the consumer’s perspective, the journey from farmgate to the Point-of-Sale (PoS) and into their home needs be more transparent, secure and inclusive (Berry, 1990). Across the food system journey, there is incredible potential and unlimited opportunities to empower producers, cooperatives and companies to transform the antiquated business model towards a dynamic and adaptive demand-pull model of the circular economy. And therefore, capitalizing on the various benefits of transparency and open information exchange. A demand-pull model with the added value of traceability and trust: •
Production – to create more accurate forecasting and confirm proper/ optimal practices
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Logistics – to verify correct deliverables (deadlines, volumes, product conditions)
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Storage – to guarantee conditions to store the SKUs in the Distributions Centers
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Shelf-life – to control the time of each SKU stored on the shelves and collecting the products about to expire to effectively process, for example, to donate to food banks
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Best Practices – the proper use of products, machinery and software solutions: • • • • •
pesticides crucial for health and environment, food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research and the bio economy, operational safety, upkeep and maintenance, and precision agriculture practices (European Commission, 2019a and 2019b; European Commission, 2018).
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