Paths of least resilience: advancing a methodology to assess the sustainability of food system innovations - the case of CRISPR.

The current public health crisis has shed light on one of food systems' most pressing challenges: reaching sustainable food security for all in a way that meets environmental and socio-economic sustainability. It has further confirmed that the logic of industrial agriculture has led our food systems down an unsustainable path, and that we must urgently change course. Agroecology is increasingly offered as the transformative and comprehensive solution that delivers benefits across all dimensions of sustainability. Yet, proponents of "business-as-usual" approaches continue to insist that producing higher, more resilient yields – particularly through new genomic techniques such as CRISPR/Cas – will serve as the means to ensure long-term food system resilience. Given the urgency for food systems transformation and drawing on agroecology as the paradigm shift we need, this article considers how new technologies can be assessed to evaluate their compatibility with food systems sustainability. Using the example of CRISPR/Cas, this article offers a preliminary framework for assessment based on FAO's 10 Elements of Agroecology. The purpose here is not to offer a comprehensive and definite assessment of CRISPR/Cas, but to serve as an example to highlight the need for holistic assessment tools when considering the development and uptake of new agricultural technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]