2019 CAFLP Annual Conference Keynote by Pat Roy Mooney Recap: “The Future Scale of Food: Concentration in Global and Canadian Food Supply Chains and the Need for a Long Food Movement”

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Pat Mooney, founder of ETC Group and panel member of IPES food, called on the Food Law and Policy community to strive towards a “long food movement”. Pat painted a picture of the current culture of concentration and mergers in the agri-food industry. Assuring us that it wasn’t all doom and gloom, Pat also highlighted a path towards more equitable and just food systems.  

Since the 1970s the agri-food business has become smaller and smaller. An industry that used to involve hundreds of businesses has been whittled down, through a series of mergers, to roughly 6 companies that make most of the substantial decisions across seeds, pesticides and agrochemicals. The concentration of power in these industries has troubling consequences for farmers and the security of our food systems. With so much concentration at the top of the chain, the whole system becomes less able to react to issues such as climate change and food security crisis. 

Pat also called the audience's attention to the rise of digital technologies in food systems and agri-business. The use of blockchain in value chain tracking is a prime example of an emerging technology that is being introduced to food systems. Pat gave the example of a large business’s promise to consumers that, using blockchain, they would be able to track a mango from when it is planted to when it arrives on the shelves of the store. Pat urged us to consider that, “You can track the mango but you can’t track the corruption”. A crucial question arises when we are talking about technology in our food systems: “Who does it really benefit? What benefit are consumers receiving? What benefit are producers receiving?”. 

While these issues are urgent, Pat urged the audience to look beyond the next few years and focus on food systems justice as a long term project. Calling this a “long food movement” Pat called on food system communities to work together and pool resources towards shared long term goals. Currently, a group of academics and civil-society actors are working on a project towards a vision for food systems in 2050. 

Additionally, Pat urged the legal community to view the field of Food Law and Policy as an interdisciplinary area that requires cooperation across fields. Areas such as competition law need to work alongside safety regulation and human rights law. Only when we recognize the various facets of law and policy’s role in the food system can we come up with effective solutions.