– Daniel Christian Wahl, Author of Designing Regenerative Cultures (2016)
Food connects us with one another, our cultures and our planet. But rather than nourishing global health and wellbeing, food systems remain at the heart of the social and environmental crises we face. Despite massive investment and effort toward transforming food systems, our policy and technical solutions aren’t delivering the necessary impact. At a pivotal moment, we must re-examine the origins of our crises, and the barriers to transformation.
Current conventional food systems are maintained by entrenched power structures and result in deep inequities, with people worst affected often those least empowered to create change. But this crisis is also rooted in human consciousness: in the way we see and relate to the world. At perhaps the deepest level, a pervasive cultural narrative of separation leaves us disconnected from nature, from each other and from ourselves; with the result that broken relationships impair our systems on a global scale.
By ignoring the inner human aspect of our crises, we have thus far overlooked a wealth of possibilities available to us in co-creating solutions. But a change is underway. In the sustainability field, the importance of deepening consciousness, and cultivating the inner capacities that support it, is increasingly recognized. The latest IPCC reports on climate change mitigation and adaptation highlight for instance the role of “inner transitions” and inner capacities of individuals, organizations, and societies as a lever for accelerating the transition.
A growing evidence base shows the value of incorporating particular consciousness approaches and practices into existing solutions to support the cultivation and consideration of inner capacities. Consciousness approaches cover a vast range of contemplative, psychological and relational practices – such as mindfulness, compassion training, nature connection, emotional awareness, self-reflection and non-violent communication, all of which actively support the transformations we need.
These inner capacities are our individual and collective mindsets, values, and skills that we will use as we transition to regenerative food systems. They include an increased sense of connection to ourselves, others and nature as well as related cognitive, emotional and relational qualities such as self-awareness and presence, capacity to listen deeply, empathy, openness, creativity, resilience, and many more.
Non-violent communication, for example, teaches people to express themselves with clarity and compassion, while paying others a respectful and empathic attention and keeping the common good in mind. As such it can help address polarization, and enable greater and deeper collaboration and conflict solving.
Mindfulness practices, such as meditation, help cultivate openness, awareness and non-judgmental presence. They have been shown to improve well-being and resilience, empathy, pro-social and pro-environmental attitudes and behaviours, as well as cognitive flexibility and performance. In the context of food systems, it can be leveraged to support healthy eating, treat less severe eating disorders and promote sustainable consumption.
CoFSA approaches food systems transformation by working with all relevant stakeholder groups across food systems, including consumers, companies, governments, development agencies, academia, global and local NGOs, local communities, and farmers and food producers, at three interconnected levels:
Fig. 1: CoFSA’s model draws on the Model of Inner-Outer Transformation and the Inner Development Goals framework. We have over-simplified the process of change for the sake of clarity. In practice, systems change is a complex process characterized by multiple causations, interactions, feedback loops, and inevitable uncertainty and unpredictability .Fig. 1: CoFSA’s model draws on the Model of Inner-Outer Transformation and the Inner Development Goals framework. We have over-simplified the process of change for the sake of clarity. In practice, systems change is a complex process characterized by multiple causations, interactions, feedback loops, and inevitable uncertainty and unpredictability .
Combining inner capacity building using consciousness approaches with ongoing investments in technical solutions can unlock widespread transformation towards more regenerative systems. Overcoming barriers to food systems transformation requires investment in the cultivation of the inner capacities of all stakeholders.
For more detail on how CoFSA applies consciousness approaches to cultivate inner capacities, please see ‘Our Work – Application’.
Read the Rationale for Action Report on “Cultivating Inner Capacities for Regenerative Food Systems”.
Read the Theoretical Foundations Report, on which some parts of the Rationale for Action Report are based.
