2030 is the deadline to achieve all 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The next decade is a chance to remake our future. Through the “Decade of Action”, we all have a part to play in the transition towards sustainable economic, social and environmental development—with sustainable food systems at its heart.
In a rapidly changing world, food systems face substantial challenges, including the COVID-19 pandemic acting as a multiplier of food and nutrition insecurity. Globally, two billion people are malnourished. More than 700 million adults are obese while at least 820 million suffer from hunger—a statistic that will no doubt increase as a result of the pandemic. And some one third of the global harvest is lost or waste. Biodiversity is declining, water and land are increasingly degraded, climate change is posing adverse impacts on agricultural production and livelihoods.
We must act now to address the impending global food emergency and avoid the worst impacts of the pandemic, while seizing upon the opportunity of resetting food systems. Over the next 20 years, food systems will need to nourish 10 billion people while also protecting precious natural resources for future generations. The spread of COVID-19 has demonstrated the fragility of global food systems, but it also offers opportunities to transform the way we produce, distribute and consume food.
Speakers include:
José Andrés, World Central Kitchen • Dan Barber, Blue Hill/Blue Hill at Stone Barns • Guido Barilla, Barilla Group/Barilla Foundation • Chris Barrett, Cornell University • Lucy Biggers, NowThis • Sara Bleich, Harvard Chan School of Public Health • Massimo Bottura, Osteria Francescana • Francesca Bria, Italian National Innovation Fund • Bobby Chinn, international chef, television presenter, restaurateur, and cookbook author • Dr. Sandro Demaio, Sandro Demaio Foundation • A.C. Gallo, Whole Foods Market • Fiona Harvey, The Guardian • Tanya Holland, Brown Sugar Kitchen • Gilbert Houngbo, International Fund for Agricultural Development • Dr. Mark Hyman, American physician and New York Times best-selling author • Dr. Agnes Kailbata, UN Food Systems Summit • Dr. Peggy Liu, World Economic Forum • Emily Ma • Jannes Maes, CEJA, European Council of Young Farmers • Danny Meyer, Union Square Hospitality Group • Julia Moskin, The New York Times • Elizabeth Mpofu, La Via Campesina • Edie Mukiibi, Slow Food International & Developing Innovations in School and Community Cultivation Project • Leah Penniman, Soul Fire Farm and author of Farming While Black • Laura Reiley, The Washington Post • Andrea Renda, Centre for European Policy Studies • Prof. Walter Ricciardi, World Health Organization • Jeffrey Sachs, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University • Elly Schlein, Vice President, Emilia-Romagna, Italy • Chloe Sorvino, Forbes • Didier Toubia, Aleph Farms • Satya Tripathi, U.N. Environment Programme • Janusz Wojciechowski, European Commissioner for Agriculture