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  • Perspective
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Asset stranding could open new pathways to food systems transformation

Nature Food volume 6, pages 440–445 (2025)Cite this article

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Abstract

As the necessity of transitioning to food systems that are healthy and environmentally sustainable grows increasingly urgent, food systems seem to be locked into delivering negative outcomes. One driver of this lock-in is that some of the changes from transitioning food systems would result in asset stranding for firms and financial institutions. In this Perspective we provide examples of where asset stranding can occur in food systems and offer solutions for navigating the political economy of these stranded assets. By proactively attending to the stranded assets problem, it may be possible to break out of financial lock-in in food systems.

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Fig. 1: Framework of the connections between assets, their owners and the drivers of change.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Smith School for Enterprise and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Stephanie Walton & Ben Caldecott

  2. Better Planet Laboratory, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Stephanie Walton & Zia Mehrabi

  3. Department of Environmental Studies, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    Zia Mehrabi

  4. Columbia Climate School, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Jessica Fanzo

Authors
  1. Stephanie Walton
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  2. Zia Mehrabi
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  3. Jessica Fanzo
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  4. Ben Caldecott
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Contributions

S.W., J.F. and Z.M. conceptualized the Perspective. S.W. wrote the original draft. Z.M., J.F. and B.C. provided feedback and edits. All authors contributed to revising the final version of the Perspective.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Stephanie Walton.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Nature Food thanks Hongbo Duan and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Walton, S., Mehrabi, Z., Fanzo, J. et al. Asset stranding could open new pathways to food systems transformation. Nat Food 6, 440–445 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43016-025-01170-7

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