The UN Food Systems Summit needs your voice!

This Dialogue will explore how valuing the often-neglected impacts and dependencies that food systems have on nature, people and society can contribute to food systems transformation.

Desired outcomes:

1. Strengthened common vision of how true cost accounting and redefining the value provided by nature, people, and society can improve decision-making related to agriculture and food systems.
2. Recommendations for the Food Systems Summit to apply True Cost Accounting and the environmental, social and human dimensions of value as systemic and cross-cutting levers to inform food systems decisions.
3. Barriers and solutions identified for the uptake in decision-making processes of the often-neglected impacts and dependencies that food systems have on nature, people and society, at different scales and in different geographies.
4. Growing coalition to support the application of True Cost Accounting and associated approaches within the food sector.

Background proposed discussion topic:

Food systems have both positive and negative impacts on our economy, environment, and society. Also, food systems depend on well-functioning ecosystems, social networks and human ingenuity. The ability to accurately assess these impacts and the dependencies food systems have on natural, social and human capital is essential if we are to succeed in addressing the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and human development inequities. In order to address these crises, we aim to redefine the value provided by nature, people and society to transform decision-making in food systems.

True Cost Accounting is a dynamic approach that allows decision makers to look at the whole value of food systems. It helps improve the understanding of food systems more widely by revealing the invisible connections and interactions between agriculture and food systems, our health, the natural environment, and the treatment of workers and communities.

This Independent Dialogue aims to strengthen and mainstream True Cost Accounting so that policy-makers, civil society, and businesses can redefine value and accelerate meaningful food systems transformations by making informed decisions.