At the heart of biodiversity conservation and restoration lies the need for food system transformation. Global food systems are strongly implicated in the destruction of forests as land is converted into pasture and farmland, soil degradation as micronutrients are extracted from soils, a loss of pollination as herbicide use increases and insect life is diminished, and a reduction of biodiversity as the range of crops being cultivated diminishes. In this way, global food systems undermine the biophysical foundations of farming and agriculture by, in essence, terraforming ecosystems. Yet not all elements of global food systems are equally implicated in ecosystem destruction: industrial agriculture imposes a singular vision of the food production landscape around the world, fostering a loss of biodiversity. Small-scale agroecological farming, on the other hand, offers an alternative: a food system that produces more than enough food to feed the world while working in alignment with landscapes and habitats to produce healthy, nutritious and culturally appropriate food.

 

In this panel some of the foremost social scientists in the field of food systems studies will highlight the ways in which industrial agriculture subverts biodiversity, and discuss the mechanisms by which a more just and sustainable food system can be fostered. Speakers include:

 

Professor Haroon Akram-Lodhi, Department of International Development Studies, Trent University, Canada on “Industrial agriculture as a drive of biodiversity loss.”

 

Professor Tony Weis, Department of Geography, Western University, London, Canada on “Meatification and biodiversity.”

 

Professor Matthew Schnurr, Department of International Development Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada on “The implications of agricultural biotechnology for genetic biodiversity.”

 

Professor Jennifer Clapp, Canada Research Chair in Global Food Security and Sustainability, University of Waterloo, Vice-Chair of the High-Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition, and IPES-Food on “Pesticides, biodiversity and the food system.”

 

Lim Li Ching, Third World Network and IPES-Food on “Reforming the global food system.” (TBC)