Q & A: UN Food Systems Summit Opportunity for the World to Unite on Healthy, Fair & Sustainable Food Systems

Food systems, from farm to fork to disposal, account for 21-37% of anthropogenic GHG emissions. Fresh produce at a supermarket. Credit: Alison Kentish/IPSBy Alison KentishUNITED NATIONS, Jul 9 2021 (IPS) Before the COVID-19 pandemic upended every sphere of life, the world was lagging on a goal to end hunger by 2030. According to the United Nations, more than 820 million people had already been categorised as food insecure, meaning they lacked access to reliable and sufficient amounts of affordable, healthy food. The impact of measures to contain the virus, land degradation, climate change and the global extreme poverty rate rising for the first time in over 20 years, make the need for a transition to sustainable food systems more important than ever. The United Nations Food Systems Summit hopes to bring together the science, finance and political commitment to transform global food systems. The goal is to introduce systems that are productive, environmentally sustainable, include the poor and promote healthy diets. The Barilla Centre For Food and Nutrition (BCFN) Foundation, a longstanding investor in research, education and high-level events on sustainable food systems has been actively involved in activities in the lead-up to the summit. IPS interviewed the think tank’s Head of Research Dr Marta Antonelli and dietician Katarzyna Dembska about climate change and diets, successful food systems and the Foundation’s own initiatives to improve education, science and skills f...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Tags: Climate Change Editors' Choice Featured Food & Agriculture Food Security and Nutrition Headlines Health IPS UN: Inside the Glasshouse Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation (BCFN) Source Type: news