Eduardo Cuoco, director at IFOAM Organics Europe, says we should view the Strait of Hormuz crises as a stress test our continent’s food system
The Strait of Hormuz is not just an energy story, it’s a stress test for Europe’s food system.
And it reveals something uncomfortable: our preparedness model is still too centralised – and too dependent.
When energy prices spike, fertiliser costs follow. When logistics are disrupted, the whole chain feels it. This is not only a cost issue, it’s an economic vulnerability built into the system.
Because food security is not only about producing more. It is about producing differently – with less exposure to external shocks.
Today, a large part of our agricultural model still relies on inputs and infrastructures that are highly concentrated and externally dependent.
When these systems are stressed, volatility quickly becomes systemic risk.
“Preparedness is not just stockpiling, it’s about structure. This means moving towards a more decentralised agri-food system, closer to where food is produced”
So the question is not only how we buffer shocks, but how we redesign the system. Preparedness is not just stockpiling, it’s about structure. This means moving towards a more decentralised agri-food system, closer to where food is produced and investing in:
• Shared processing facilities
• Mobile slaughterhouses
• Distributed storage and silos
• Decentralised agro-energy communities linked to rural areas
These approaches
- Reduce dependency on external inputs
- Create local economic value, and
- Increase resilience to shocks.
They are not theoretical. We already have examples and lessons learned, including from organic systems, that show how territorial approaches can work in practice. The real question is whether we are ready to scale them.
Because resilience is not built in warehouses, it’s built in the design of the system itself.
Eduardo Cuoco
Eduardo Cuoco is director of IFOAM Organics Europe. This article was originally published as a LinkedIn post. It appears here with permission of the author
Image credit: Being Organic in the EU