Science, technology, agri-food systems, health, and wellbeing: logic, dynamics, and relationships

VARGAS-CANALES, JUAN MANUEL; OROZCO-CIRILO, SERGIO; ESTRADA, SALVADOR; KREIMER, PABLO

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

Frontiers

Año: 2024 vol. 8 p. 1 - 14

The agri-food sector worldwide is the mostimportant for life. The recent pandemic made it clear that the best way toresist, overcome and adapt to health problems is by maintaining a healthy,adequate and balanced diet. Currently, food comes almost entirely fromagri-food systems, the problem is that the agri-food sector subordinated to aneconomic and scientific model with very clear interests and objectives. In thissense, the aim of this work was to carry out an analysis of the logic, dynamicsand relationship between science, technology, agri-food systems, health andwellbeing from the perspective of Social Studies of Science and Technology.With what is intended contribute to the debate on the future and the strategictransformation of agri-food systems. As a first point, an exploration of theevolution and trends of science and technology in the agri-food sector iscarried out. Next, an analysis is developed on the importance of agri-foodsystems and the ways in which they have been configured. Subsequently, therelationship between food and health and the main implications and damagecaused by the current agri-food regime are addressed. Based on the above, somealternatives are proposed to improve nutrition, health and wellbeing. Thesealternatives imply, on the one hand, a profound reconfiguration oftechnological systems, orienting them toward the reproduction of life.Secondly, and as a consequence of the above, a reorganization of the economicand social systems. To achieve this, it is advisable to design a policy thatpromotes sustainable agri-food systems and integrate broad work and researchgroups that allow addressing these problems and proposing alternatives from differentperspectives. Finally, it is important to design and implement sciencedissemination programs on the relationships, controversies, tensions andproblems that exist between scientific and technological development and theagri-food sector, health and wellbeing with the aim of having a true impact onthe society and a genuine social appropriation of knowledge.