Implementing Ireland’s Food Vision 2030 within the Fresh Produce Sector: An Investigation of the Barriers and Enablers Using Systems Thinking Principles

The Irish Food Vision 2030 (IFV 2030) seeks to restructure Ireland’s agricultural food system to deliver long-term social, economic, and environmental sustainability in keeping with its commitment to the European Green Deal and the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals. This study investigates the effectiveness of the IFV 2030 in delivering on this commitment across the fresh produce supply chain in Ireland using a combination of data collected from stakeholders through a survey and systems thinking principles. A review of the literature and Foucault’s genealogical methods guided the development of the survey. Systems thinking principles were used to review the IFV 2030 and assess its capacity to deliver large-scale change for a sustainable Irish food system. Barriers to change were identified, including historical patterns of behaviour between EU and Irish policymakers that have repeatedly hindered progress towards large-scale change events. The results demonstrate that successful, long-term change will depend on the involvement and incentives of stakeholders within the supply chain. Continuous stakeholder engagement is required through a bottom-up organisational and supply chain approach to deliver long-term sustainability within the fresh produce sector. Using a systems thinking lens brings benefits through transdisciplinary collaboration and fosters the multiple stakeholder perspectives needed to deliver new ideas and solutions.