The Economics of Sustainable Food: Smart Policies for Health and the Planet

The current industrial food system comes at a tremendous economic cost. Dealing with malnutrition, diseases, and environmental degradation costs trillions of dollars, but because that price tag does not show up at the grocery store, it is too often ignored by economists and policymakers. The Economics of Sustainable Food details the true cost of food and illustrates how to transform our broken system, alleviating its severe financial and human burden. The key is smart macroeconomic policy that moves us toward regenerative agriculture and sustainable, healthy diets. The book’s multidisciplinary team of authors lay out detailed fiscal and trade policies, as well as structural reforms, to achieve those goals. Chapters discuss strategies ranging from taxes and spending to education, labour market, health care, and pension reforms, alongside regulation in cases where market incentives are unlikely to work or to work fast enough. The authors carefully consider the different needs of more and less advanced economies, balancing economic development and sustainability goals. Case studies showcase successful strategies from around the world, such as distributing climate resilient grains through subsidised food programmes, taxing foods with a high carbon footprint, and providing schools with matching funds to purchase local produce. In the years ahead, few issues will be more important for individual prosperity and the global economy than the way we produce our food and what food we eat. This roadmap for reform is an invaluable resource to help global policymakers improve countless lives.