When Federal Leadership Falls Short, Cities Can Lead the Way – Food Tank

The United States federal government continues to backtrack on climate action at a time when it’s more urgent than ever. But urban centers are showing a different way forward, promoting human and environmental health. 

“I’m deeply worried,” Jessica Fanzo, Professor of Food Policy & Climate at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies Europe, tells Food Tank. She believes that decision makers in the U.S. understand the connection between food, agriculture, and the climate crisis, yet publicly deny it. 

“There’s this backtracking on the wealth of information we know about systems approaches,” Fanzo says. “We know this. Politicians know this. We’re backtracking because it doesn’t fit within certain political narratives. It’s really worrisome because I think we’re losing time.”

Fanzo is quick to point out that this isn’t the reality everywhere. “There are a lot of policymakers who are deeply concerned. They see the connections between conflict, crisis, food, water, climate, environment.” The problem, she says, is the world still lacks the scale of innovations and solutions that are needed.

But cities hold great promise, Fanzo believes. “You’re hitting huge swaths of the population when you’re hitting urban centers, particularly big cities.” She finds hope in New York City, which has prioritized food policy in different ways under the last three administrations. She also sees similar action being taken in urban areas around the world.

To have the greatest impact, Fanzo calls on city governments to merge food and climate policies. “I think there needs to be more of that…You have a climate strategy and maybe the dietary guidelines, but how do you start marrying those policy instruments and creating action plans for cities around that?” she asks. “That’s a first natural step.”

Listen to or watch the full conversation with Jessica Fanzo on “Food Talk with Dani Nierenberg” to hear more about how to translate research into policy action, the big questions raised by the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, and where to put our energy now that we have the evidence base for food systems transformation. 

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Photo courtesy of Mick Kirchman, Unsplash