From Bottom-line business practices to Food Diplomacy

Food plays a crucial role in life, representing history, traditions, culture, and identity. Governments use food to establish robust transnational agreements and address common global challenges -sourcing, procurement, and securing food access- and foster international relations. Food is used as an effective ‘food diplomacy’ instrument, seeking to exert influence in global food systems, unite, engage, and nourish people, promote sustainability, culture, and heritage.
Food diplomacy is linked to food governance. Food governance develops strategies and policy outcomes/solution to address emerging transboundary problems at the intersection of food, health, and environment; food diplomacy seeks to externalize policy outcomes and to exert influence in global food systems, promote food culture and heritage, and sustainable food practices. Understanding the food governance- food diplomacy interface is key to both international relations and governance. Within this context, this paper aims to investigate how the food governance-food diplomacy interface influences inter-state relations and sustainable outcomes.
Unlike the traditional state-to-state diplomacy, in food diplomacy, governments collaborate with businesses, whose activities are entwined with the governments’ foreign policy concerns and ambitions. These companies engage in transnational governance and conduct foreign policy, participate in political delegations and visits supported by foreign affairs units and increasingly they represent forces involved in political decisions. Thus, businesses activities extend beyond bottom-line business practices -food production, exports, and trade relations- to diplomatic activities. Food diplomacy takes either the form of soft power- to exert influence through the attractiveness of a country’s culture, political ideals, and policies but also technological innovations and standards; or hard power to complement foreign policy through coercion and blackmail e.g. embargos and sanctions.
In food diplomacy, businesses act as ‘bridge-builders’, creating informal networks and public-private partnerships, and establish new channels of influence to address global challenges. Collaborations between businesses, governments, international organizations, and people promote mutual understandings, share knowledge on sustainable food production methods and practices, food technology and innovation. Food technology and innovation have transformed what we produce and what we eat; affect our landscape and environment, societal relations, and economies and become part of national governance strategies. Drawing often on scientific expertise, food diplomacy aims to externalize technology and innovation, practices, regulatory standards, exerting influence in food systems and strengthening inter-state relations and policy diffusion. For example, food companies in collaboration with political authorities strategically promote food technology and innovation (BioSolutions) for sustainable solutions like energy, decarbonization and resource efficiency in line with the international organizations’ strategies (EU, UN, WTO etc). In collaboration with chefs and restaurants, governments also develop diplomatic activities and promote the positioning of regional cuisines, diets and local products that link to specific techniques and sustainable solutions (e.g. Nordic and/or Mediterranean diets) but also culture, heritage and identity. Businesses also use food diplomacy to address ethical dilemmas, take strategic risks, share responsibilities with local actors and society and promote norms and practices that aim to strengthen international relations