Food systems thinking | TableDebates

Provided by Frederico Andreotti for his Essay on Games on TABLE, features images from WUR Games Hub, sent 1 May 2025

Games at TABLE: A new platform for food system serious games

Games at TABLE will soon be launched as the first food-systems-focused serious games library to encourage future project collaborations and support food system education, research, and broader transformation. Serious game expert Federico Andreotti provides an overview of serious games around farming and food systems, with three examples of existing serious games designed by students at Wageningen University.Federico is a lecturer and researcher at Wageningen University. He is the game expert of the CiFoS research team, and coordinator of the WUR Games Hub that connects multiple researchers that use games to bridge science and society. Federico’s PhD project was on the co-design and application of serious games for the sustainability transition of farming and food systems; his current research and education focus is on games design and play and participatory research methods to explore futures farming and food systems. Via “Games at TABLE” he aims to foster an international community connecting game researchers and designers across the globe, encompassing social sciences, natural sciences, and design. These partnerships may serve to develop effective strategy games and engage players with agency: decision makers who play and take action to transform systems.https://www.doi.org/10.56661/d1243efe

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News and resources

Food industry insiders warn food crisis is looming

A group of senior professionals working within the biggest food retailers warn that an interconnected set of crises – degrading soil health, water scarcity, climate change – will have a significant impact on food businesses unless there is deep structural and cultural change within the industry.

Photo of wheat stalks in the foreground with agricultural landscape in the background. Photo by Veronica White via UnSplash.

Tomorrow on the table: The politics and economics of food system transformation

In October 2024, TABLE brought together a diverse range of stakeholders across the food system with the aim of exploring how they envisaged a better food future, and what system transformations would be needed to get there. The participants included non-governmental and civil society organisations, policymakers, philanthropists, community leaders, and academics from diverse disciplines. Over the course of the workshop, they together discussed, developed and refined different visions for the future of the food system based on three initially conceived visions: market-led, state-led, and bottom-up. This report synthesises the workshop methods and dialogue process, the discussions participants had and the areas of agreement that emerged. https://www.doi.org/10.56661/421fa6df

Front cover of book titled Transforming food systems. Veg at a market

Transforming Food Systems

This book explores the narratives of food systems transformation and how power manifests within food systems manifests. Intended for students, scholars and policymakers, this book deals with the contesting and competing nature of these diverse narratives which tell stories of change and how the food system should work in the future, and what or who might be left out from these imaginations.

A caterpillar preparing to transform. Image by Charles Davis from Pixabay

Journal articles

Demystifying food systems transformation

This article examines the scholarly literature in English and Spanish to outline a series of insights related to the development and evolution of the term food system transformation. The authors find a rising use of the term in the literature but note a lack of coherent and consistent definition and an underpinning theoretical framework of change. The authors warn against the possible loss of the term’s meaning as it becomes increasingly popular and used without specific intention. The authors seek to provide insights into the complex and overlapping body of literature and offer a unique definition which attempts to fill gaps identified through the review process.

Image of the role of seafood in food systems transformation report title page

The role of seafood in UK food systems transformation

This report by the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the Marine Conservation Society argues that seafood should play a more prominent role in debates about food systems transformation in the UK. It discusses the connections between seafood and the broader food system and considers seafood’s potential role in food systems transformation in the UK, as well as analysing future visions for seafood in the UK.

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Journal articles

A systematic review of the methodology of trade-off analysis in agriculture

The systematic literature review explores methodologies of peer-reviewed trade-off analysis (TOA) articles in agriculture, finding that this research prioritises productivity and profit maximisation while disregarding risk, social and cultural indicators. The authors conclude that this reduces the effectiveness of TOA in holistic food systems policymaking and recommend a wider integration of indicators, scale, stakeholder involvement and risk in TOA methodology to enhance its use to policy and decision-makers to promote sustainable agricultural landscapes.

Photo of a man penning a letter. Photo by Scott Graham via Unsplash

News and resources

Coalition Calls For A Stronger Food Systems Approach At COP28

In the lead up to COP28, a coalition of more than 80 powerful organisations from across the global food system have signed an open letter to incorporate food system transformation into the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The letter calls for a clear political stance to be taken by governments and for food systems action to be part of the National Adaptation Plans, Nationally Determined Contributions and long-term strategies.

The cover of Transformations of Global Food Systems for Climate Change Resilience edited by Preety Gadjoke, Barrett Brenton and Solomon Katz

Transformations of Global Food Systems for Climate Change Resilience: Addressing Food Security, Nutrition, and Health

This volume provides case studies of actions to promote climate change resilience in the global food system. The cases are selected across a wide range of regions and cover a broad range sustainable food system issues, including food security, food sovereignty, public health and justice.