I came into the world of food systems in 2019 via a lecture during my masters. It captured me completely and, as I began diving into the world of food, it seemed like one of bottomless depths. 

I was, undoubtedly, a product of the times. One only had to look at the countless books coming out during that period to get a sense of how much energy there was - and I was pulled along in the flow. Pollan's Omnivore's Dilemma of course kick-started it all in a major way. But we also had Food Wars, Food Politics, Eating Animals, First Bite and The Way We Eat Now, Eating to Extinction, Hungry City - the list goes on and on. 

And it is my humble opinion that part of the reason it feels a bit flat right now is because we feel like we've run out of new things to say. We've shouted to the rooftops on a few specific subjects. And now we're a bit at risk of beating our dead horses a little too much but we haven't quite figured out where to go from here - after we've discovered all these amazing things and gotten a taste of nirvana and yet now the world is.... kind of where we left it, if not worse. 

So I'm throwing out the five things I think we need to do to keep things moving forward on food systems so that we don't grow despondent or stagnant. So that we remain clear-eyed about challenges but don't succumb to a victim complex or ennui.