8^TH INTERNATIONAL FORUM ON FOOD AND NUTRITION

This session will present the main results of the new edition of the Food Sustainability Index (developed by the Economist Intelligence Unit with BCFN), focusing on a number of countries in the Mediterranean Area. The panelists will discuss how the new knowledge generated by this edition of the FSI can be an asset for the development of policies to improve the sustainability of food systems in these areas. Participants will be actively involved in the discussion.

This session will focus on the fundamental relationship between food and health. The current global food system results in a negative impact on health and well-being, ranging from food insecurity to chronic disease and environmental exploitation, and the panel will introduce the scientific evidence behind the health costs externalized by the global food system. Different perspectives will be explored, including the Mediterranean and the Asian ones. The complexity of the issue requires multiple actions: there is no-one-size-fits-all solution to restore the balance between food, health and the environment, and panelists will discuss potential activities that support rebuilding food systems on new and healthier foundations. The audience will be actively involved in the discussion.

As populations gravitate towards urban centers, the relationship between food systems and urbanization, people and the environment is crucial for the future of our planet. Cities are also decisive actors in tackling climate change, by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate risk. This session will highlight how improved urban food systems will help balance the economic, social, and environmental conditions using the Mediterranean area as an illustration of solutions that can be put in place. Panelists will involve the audience exploring good practices among the food chain, including food production, distribution and processing, marketing, consumption and waste and how cities can move concretely towards sustainability in the Mediterranean area.

This session will explore the future of food system innovation and the biggest ideas that will shape our world in terms of sustainability in the agri-business sector, food security and healthy food access. Indeed, effective agricultural research and innovation systems could ensure the access of adequate supplies of high-quality and nutritious food to all and in a sustainable way. It will be highlighted the most innovative solutions and breakthroughs, emphasizing the role of academia, institutions and private sector in order to see how they are interacting and facilitating the implementation of these innovations in various parts of the world.

This session will explore the geopolitics of migration and food in areas currently undergoing large migration flows, like the Mediterranean area. The main aim of this session is to better understand the link between climate change, food security and migration. The extent to which climate change has become, and will become in the future, a driver of migrations and displacement will be explored with experts, involving the audience in an interactive discussion. Climate-resilient pathways, adaptation, mitigation, and sustainable development strategies will also be explored.

Since the creation of the Common agricultural policy (CAP) in 1962, it shapes food and farming as well as rural areas all over Europe. Today, actors engaged in sustainable food and farming tend to agree that a shift is needed in EU policies. Can a more integrated approach, a food policy approach, lead to healthy farms, farmers, food, eaters and landscapes and less externalities? This session will discuss the impact of the current CAP and discuss proposals for the future. What environmental instruments does the current CAP already provide? What scope of development is there for the future? What does it mean concretely to shift to a food policy? What scope of bringing positive local experiences to a European scale? How to build on commitment of new and young farmers and how to answer challenges they face? What are the power dynamics behind the CAP and what global impact does it have? These and other questions will be worked on with input from the speakers as well as in small group conversations hosted by the speakers and civil society representatives.