The Inescapable Radiality of Food and the Impossibility of Environmental ‘Restoration’

Though issues such as climate change, environmental protection and food security are often siloed in academic and political discussions, this essay moves from the premise that it is not meaningful to treat them as separate categories. Using the recently passed EU “Nature Restoration Law” as a springboard, the argument will be made that the ‘restoration’ approach to confronting environmental challenges is unsound. More specifically, the law’s approach to biodiversity, which includes “the safeguarding of food systems” depends upon a deeply flawed conception of what ‘food’ is. The essay will instead propose a view of food and environment which sees them as reciprocally transformative and constantly in flux. Neither can be understood as a “thing” since both are “radial” and deeply interconnected. Such a perspective makes evident that other thinking modalities are needed to address the current crises in environmental/food landscapes. A discussion of the potential contribution of religious imaginaries is followed by observations regarding the role of law. Understanding the interrelations between food, environment, law and the cultural imaginaries that tie them together is crucial towards any attempt to “address the humanitarian global food crisis” as the EU claims to do.