The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate General for Development Cooperation, together with the Italian Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies, participates in the debate on food systems by organizing the National Dialogue entitled “the culture of food in sustainable food systems”. The dialogue will collect innovative ideas and solutions from main Italian stakeholders who contribute to enhancing the sustainability and resilience of the Italian food system.

Italy – with its millenary and incredibly rich food tradition – reaffirms its commitment to explore new paths to preserve and strengthen local food cultures, reduce food waste, recovering surpluses for a sustainable and ethical use of food by implementing new strategies to mitigate the potential negative effects of food systems on animal health, land, water, climate, biodiversity, economy and other systems. By embracing the agriculture value chain, the practices, methods and traditions of food production and consumption, the culture of food is thus transmitted from one generation to another as part of the cultural heritage, enriched by sustainable technological innovations.

Strengthening local food systems is a strategic resource for the dissemination and exchange of thoughts and experiences such as the care of the territory and the enhancement of the landscape, in a dialogue between urban and rural areas. The emphasis on the small-scale production also enhances agro-food excellences, which in turn support territory’s biodiversity, with cascading positive effects on ensuring decent agricultural incomes and making healthy diets accessible to all.

The National Dialogue will be an opportunity to launch proposals for national commitments: by examining the complexity of issues related to food, the dialogue will focus on the importance of enhancing sustainable productions, underlining historical and cultural dimension of food and addressing the issue of food waste in a sustainable system. Stakeholders are invited to share best practices of production processes and consumption models, to point out innovative solutions based on scientific research, to propose governance and inter-institutional models as well as actions aimed at improving global food systems through the lens of the Italian experience.