The Elephant at the Table: Policy Pathways to Confront Power in Food Systems

Food systems will not be transformed unless power is confronted—
not as an abstract concept, but as concrete control over land and
water, markets and labor, taste and narratives. The stakes could not
be higher: food systems must feed everyone, regenerate ecosystems,
and provide decent livelihoods, yet we are failing on all fronts. This
failure is not due to lack of knowledge or productive capacity, but to
entrenched power inequities that stem from long-standing historical
structures, are actively reinforced by today’s policies and incentives,
and drive hunger, malnutrition, ecological collapse, and social injustice.
This report moves beyond diagnosis to proposals—concrete, structural,
and actionable recommendations that address power directly. Power
is the elephant “at the table”: the concept of “broken food systems”
is now a common refrain, yet the structures that keep them broken
remain largely intact. Technocratic fixes—delivering at best marginal
change—and multi-stakeholder initiatives, often dominated by pow-
erful interests, create the appearance of change without shifting who
decides, who benefits, and who bears the costs.
Rather than leaving that elephant unaddressed, the report advances
public policy pathways to shift the balance of power across food sys-
tems—to act on power rather than merely acknowledging it. The chapter
briefs in this report explore different domains—agroecology, fisheries
and aquaculture, neglected and underutilized species, supply chains,
nutrition, seeds, and governance—but converge on the same premise:
real transformation is only possible when power relations shift.