To truly transform food systems, we must confront what holds them in place: power. Not as an abstract force, but as concrete control over land, markets, labor, taste, and narratives. This report begins with common sense assumptions that should not be controversial: food systems must feed everyone, not only those that can afford it; they must regenerate ecosystems, not deplete them; and they must provide decent livelihoods to those who nourish us, not consign them to hunger and exploitation.

But the fact that we are not meeting these goals is not due to technical failures. Power inequities are at the root of hunger and malnutrition, the destruction of ecosystems and climate change, and deep social inequalities. Yet power is also the hardest barrier to address, because it is both historically entrenched and actively reinforced by today’s economic and political systems—systems that have evolved to extract value for the benefit of a few, while externalizing costs onto the many (Sen, 1981; Patel & Moore, 2017; Clapp, et al., 2025).