Seeking common ground for food system transformation

Abstract

While theoretically the terms food sovereignty and food security are often very differently nuanced, in practice they commonly provide valuable and complementary foundations for food system transformation. Our goal is to illuminate spaces where food is/has been a lever for change through a combination of food security and food sovereignty initiatives that resulted in shifts with the potential for structural transformation. We provide examples from municipal, regional, national and global scales that illuminate synergistic and fluid relationships between the two concepts and how they are/can be used to activate change. These spaces reveal that the two terms complement, rather than undermine each other, as they often (though not always) represent similar rather than competing values.