Food and systems thinking – I think this podcast of Blaues Brot does a great job i.e. in narrating chapter summaries of key concepts in lay language. Thank you for hosting this and for providing me the opportunity to contribute.

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How can we think and act more systemically? It starts with the realization: “Everything is connected to everything.” Sounds like a truism, but sometimes truisms are true.

Tobias Luthe, Program Director of the new Master’s degree course “Designing Resilient Regenerative Systems” at ETH Zurich (MAS ETH in Regenerative Systems), describes it like this:

“I have to be able to zoom in and out. I have to be able to focus on details and see the big picture.”

The problem?
We tend to view nutrition either as an individual consumer decision or as a purely technical problem. But our eating behavior is deeply linked to ecosystems, politics and culture.

Luthe proposes that we not only analyze nutrition, but feel it. He calls this “system sensing”. Because food is more than a logistical problem – it is cultural identity, social glue and lived politics on the plate.

Tobias Luthe emphasizes: “We have to learn to accept complexity and work with it instead of reducing it.”

He describes it as an “immanent return to ourselves”. An ongoing process in which we learn to reconnect with our environment instead of just managing it.

We therefore not only need knowledge, but also compassion for our food system. A conscious meal can be a first step towards understanding ourselves as part of this system.

If you want to learn more about systemic thinking and “system sensing”, listen to Episode 1 of Blaues Brot – the most comprehensive audio documentary on the food system.

To listen right now, type “Blaues Brot” into iTunes, Spotify or your podcast app of choice.

Here is the direct link to my contribution on Youtube. (in German)

Here is a link-overview of the platforms to access this podcast (in German).