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1. Dietary guidelines Nutrition is fundamentally important for health, but it is difficult to define the optimum healthy diet for a healthy human, particularly given the diversity of the global population. Dietary guidelines have been in place for many years with much focus given to avoiding nutrient deficiencies, but the prevalence of poor nutrition, NCDs and obesity is rising which is major global challenge. While there are commonalties when comparing food based dietary guidelines (FBDG) from different countries, differences occur to reflect the cultural differences in foods, as well as vari... Read moreations in their level of detail, how they are employed and the level population adherence. For example, the FBDG in some countries consider other aspects such as environmental, food safety, dietary habits and food preparation. Therefore, we need to reassess whether the existing guidelines are adequate as a basis for making diets more sustainable, fit for purpose in meeting nutritional requirements and how we can better align them? The Federation of European Nutrition Societies (FENS) have conducted a number of systemic reviews on European FBDG (Tetens et al. 2020; BJN; doi:10.1017/S0007114520002469). In addition, a UK study reported health and environmental benefits were associated with higher adherence to UK national dietary recommendations (the Eatwell Guide) (Scheelbeek et al. 2020; BMJ Open; doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2020-037554). While there is sufficient knowledge to be able to produce generic food based dietary guidelines, it is important to develop a better understanding of how FBDG can be tailored to specific population groups to address the health targets which vary across nations and consider environmental aspects. Actions: • more detail about micronutrient bioavailability from different food sources and fully understand the impact of gender, genetic variability, age, geography, culture/diets, climate, infection (how the gut responds to an adequate diet or if the gut functioning differs with infection) on diet, and the comparable and different nutritional/dietary requirements in low vs high-income countries • international collaboration to support and develop sustainable food based dietary guidelines that are tailored to specific population groups and incorporate environment aspects Success: • focused dietary guidelines that holistically reflect the interactions between nutrition, health and sustainability and are tailored to specific population groups so that the cultural and costs aspects are considered alongside the more commonly considered aspects and are based on robust scientific evidence • robust food compositional data, including information on micronutrient bioavailability, particularly for novel, niche and plant-based foods • Improved methods for objectively assessing dietary intake, that integrate modern technologies Read less

We need to move away from using global averages when identifying the challenges facing food systems around the world. This approach can miss regional and local concerns which are dependent on regional and local context and can be lost when looking at international and national data. Applying a one size fits all approach can lead to resentment in areas where this is not appropriate and the building up of mistrust of decision makers. The importance of place-based solutions rather than world-based solutions were highlighted • Greater consideration of the economic sustainability of interventions... Read more made in the food system is recommended. This aspect is not always factored into research led by biological, environmental & social drivers and should be given greater prominence in future funding mechanisms. If the economics of research impact is not considered then the likelihood of successful interventions is reduced. • A diverse range of researchers, stakeholders & end-users need to be involved in the co-creation/co-design of projects to ensure viable products, uptake and impact of the research and achieve a sustainable system that delivers affordable, nutritious & safe food for all • To support interdisciplinary research in tackling food systems challenges, we need to support the building of a resilient research & innovation community of early career researchers, including more opportunities for staff mobility between institutes and disciplines, and training for systems thinking & approaches. • Much discussion focused on the complexity of the food system and the need for interdisciplinary approaches to tackle the challenges. A vital first step in this process is to establish a vision of where we want to get to and what we want future food systems to look like. It is important to establish a common goal using methods such as scenario modelling and foresight analysis, then we can design the best metrics to measure the success of meeting this vision. • It is very importance to be able to accurately measure and monitor the nutritional composition of foods & diets, and to better understand the nutrient bioavailability, bioaccessibility & uptake across the food chain from the soil to food as consumed including crop/animal breeding lines, harvested products, raw materials, processing & storage, food formulation & composition, cooking/shelf life, and biomarkers for human health outcomes. This requires the development of high-throughput, cost-effective assays, technologies and robust methods to identify where nutrient loss occurs across the food system and the impact of a range of factors that influence this. • The importance of plant-based diets were recognised, but there are many unknowns with much evidence focused on GHG emissions and wider aspects such as nutritional contribution/quality, cost, water & lane use, cultural acceptability, health, socioeconomic and geographical factors being overlooked. A more balanced approach is required • Despite the trend towards more plant-based diets, animal-based foods are still nutritionally important and research should focus on making livestock farming more carbon neutral and produce more affordable, nutritious, high quality animal-based foods. If intakes of animal-based foods are reduced, the essential nutrients they provide (not just protein) need to be readily accessible in bioavailable form from other sources. • Developing integrated indexes for human and planetary health were highlighted as vitally important • There was strong agreement that to address global challenges, systems/interdisciplinary research and multi-sector approaches are crucial. However, it is important that we do not lose sight of reductionist approaches to challenges where there can be some big wins • To deliver the actions and rapid change requested by the UNFSS, we should focus on research innovations already in progress along this pathway and improve or more effectively use the ones we currently have • The availability of tools, technology and data can advance a more comprehensive and systems-wide research approach, such as using AI, modelling, data integration & GM/gene editing techniques which have the potential to deliver quick results with a large impact. The UN needs to encourage countries to change local and National policies to use these technologies for human and planet benefit. However, the development and translation of technologies need to be tensioned against the needs and capabilities of smallholder farmers in the developing world by building a better understanding of rural issues and more support for rural infrastructure with low-tech solutions • Improvements to reduce food waste and nutrient loss at production/post-harvest stage can be a quick win to improve progress against the SDGs. Investing in stable post-harvest processes will provide economic security to farmers by preventing spoilage and degradation, developed with the whole system and energy efficiency in mind and contribute to improve human health • As poor nutrition, NCDs and obesity levels continue to rise globally, it was agreed that existing food based dietary guidelines need to be re-evaluated to determine whether they are adequate as a basis for making diets more sustainable, fit for purpose in meeting nutritional requirements and how they can be tailored to specific population groups, based on robust scientific evidence • More food should be grown in urban areas in an environmentally friendly way to reduce supply chains and increase accessibility and affordability of fresh food to individuals who need it most Read less

Purpose: The UKRI-BBSRC dialogue focussed on discussion on the importance of nutrition and the need to integrate research and innovation across agriculture, food, nutrition and health while considering effects on the environment and inequalities. It was intended to: • create a virtual event to bring together a diverse range of research communities, industry, policy makers and other stakeholders across the agriculture, food, nutrition and health nexus to discuss and identify the key research and innovation challenges, opportunities and solutions to break down the barriers between disciplines ... Read moreand sectors to advance progress of the SDGs • discuss the importance of integrating nutrition research with environmental and social sciences, and highlight the divergences and convergences that may arise Context: The sustainable provision of safe and nutritious food for all is vital to address the global challenges of malnutrition, rising levels of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and to promote overall population health. At the same time, food production must be resilient and adapt to climate change and consider its impact on the environment and social inequalities. Transformation of the food system must consider sustainability, and nutrition and dietary needs at all levels from production through to consumption if it is to meet these challenges. Improving nutrition and food-related health outcomes while building resilience into the food system requires a multisectoral approach to understand the transfer of nutrients through the agricultural system* from soil to food to human health. However, integrating research across these sectors and translating this research into impact is a significant challenge. UKRI-BBSRC is ideally placed to support research which spans this nexus and worked with partners to convene a dialogue which brought together diverse research communities and stakeholders to identify the challenges and opportunities for research and innovation, and to discuss science solutions to bridge the gap between agriculture and health by preserving nutrition across the food chain and support the building of a resilient global food system that is sensitive to nutritional and environmental outcomes and social inequalities. *agricultural system includes horticulture, arable crops, livestock, fisheries/aquaculture and non-traditional food production methods. The dialogue started with three presentations to establish the context of the meeting and set the scene of the research and innovation landscape - highlighting unknowns, evidence gaps, challenges and emerging areas to facilitate open discussion in the seven breakout groups and plenary session. These were framed around three themed questions: • What is a healthy, nutritious diet for population and planetary health? • How can we improve linkages between agriculture and health research to produce an affordable, accessible and nutritious diet for all in a changing world? • What is the role of research and innovation in improving the nutrition quality of food in changing world? Participants were asked to consider and discuss a series of questions under each theme, for example: • What do we need to know, or do we know enough, about healthy diets for all? • What contributions will research make to achieving a healthy diet and healthy planet? • How can we improve interdisciplinary research across agriculture, food, nutrition and health to achieve a healthy, sustainable diet? What are the key research and innovation challenges and how can we overcome these? • What are the key contributions research can make to improving the nutrition quality of food in a changing environment? • What actions should be taken in the next 3 years that will have greatest impact and why? If you were Director General of the UN, what is the one thing you would do? (e.g. address a specific challenge, remove a barrier, are there examples of what has worked well that could be expanded on etc?). • How will it be possible to tell if these actions are being successful? • What are the divergences/trade-offs that are revealed and how to manage them? Read less

It was brilliant and quite fascinating to see that although our participants came from many different places in the world, there were similar core challenges no matter where they came from and innovative solutions taking place.

Driving food supplies to do the right thing for children and empowering families to demand affordable nutritious food for all children and youth are two of the most important outcomes for the next 10 years in a country's development: Driving food supplies to do the right thing for children is certainly needed but the change needs to come from policy level. Government intervention is urgently needed to stop the commercialisation of food in schools and universities. Many catering companies pay schools and universities to be able to serve their food there resulting in the catering companies searc... Read morehing to make a profit elsewhere by either taking out contracts with processed food companies and/or using cheap food in their catering. This needs to stop and kitchens need to be brought back to all schools As well as driving food supplies to do the right thing for children, supply chains should be shortened wherever possible - the closer children are to food growing or growing it themselves either in school or community garden the more likely they are to be interested in and appreciate it. One of the most effective things a country could do over the next 10 years would be to train teachers in their PGCE the importance of good, real, whole, nutritious food for children. In their training, teachers should be taught the physiological implications of poor diet and and the negative effect of obesity on IQ and cortex development as well as the link between food and behaviour/concentration in class. If children do not have access to their fundamental right to good food, - nutrient dense food and not just calories - they are also less likely to partake in academic learning so it is in the teachers interest to make sure children and youth are fed properly. If teachers were taught the importance of this in training, they would be less likely to accept unhealthy or cheap food in the schools they work in. Food can bring context to teaching in many subjects - Food for Life provides resources and lesson plans to do just this. Sometimes, messaging, teaching and advertising around healthy food can be quite dry -fun needs to be brought back into teaching healthy food and lifestyle habits. TastEd uses an evidence based approach using the senses - as applied in Finland for the early years curriculum- to help children to learn to like and enjoy eating healthy foods. The early years are so important for shaping dietary preferences and using the senses to explore food is a great tool for teachers and is great for giving kids the opportunity to explore and experience veg and fruit in a non-pressured way, away from meal times with their peers. This also takes some pressure off parents to instigate healthy eating habits. In Food for Life initiatives, schools have a School Nutrition Action Group which is pupil led and so empowers children to look after their own health. Teachers also need to be taught the link between food and climate change - if we changed our food systems, this could have a massively positive effect on climate change. If food supplies did the right thing for children, it would also have a positive effect on the climate and environment. Student exchanges from urban to rural schools and vice versa is a great idea. The Wheel of the year should be celebrated to give children a sense of connection to the changing seasons and school trips to see food growing should also be common place at schools. In some parts of the UK, there are local schemes to plant fruit trees in parks. not only is this a fantastic idea, but it brings children and the community closer to food, especially in urban areas but it also makes way for community initiatives to get together to look after the trees and furthermore can provide food for the homeless. Empowering communities is as important as empowering families. When we talk to people, we need to talk about real issues & not just small talk. We will use our voices to instigate change, get politicians involved and lobby them for change. It is not right that we still have hungry people worldwide and this needs to change. We can use social media for good to raise awareness about nutrition for school children. Read less

The reduction/elimination of chronic disease in adults is founded in healthy and nutritious food for children and youth - building healthy lifestyle and positive food habits: Food education in schools and initiatives highlighted in the previous discussion topic such as school gardens and school cooking classes that also teach parents should be prioritised and given financial support by the government in order to eliminate the health crisis we are facing long term. The money spent on chronic illness could be prevented by ensuring people eat real food. Children need a broad and comprehensive foo... Read mored education to be able to navigate the food system and be healthy consumers of sustainable diets. Parents need to know that they have the power to demand change over school food systems and school meals decisions. Emphasis should be placed on the importance of community in this. Educating parents and children is important but if building healthy lifestyle and positive food habits can be embedded into a community, everyone benefits. E.g there is a school feeding program in Benin where the community created the school garden and tends to the school garden, growing the food which feeds the school children and has food left over to go to the community living in proximity to the school. The parents therefore know exactly what their children are eating and the close proximity of the growing food means that the meals are fresh and nutritious. The benefits of projects like this are tangible but they also need financial support. The government has a responsibility to provide funding for initiatives like this when there is so much evidence to support how successful they can be. Rural schools are often space-rich and should be empowered to start these initiatives; inner-city should be encouraged to look at installing roof top vegetable beds to bring students closer to real whole food. Furthermore, India’s school feeding program feeds 100,000,000 children every day and a paper recently released showed evidence that this mid-day meal had a significant positive impact on the health of the children of the children who grew up eating this meal every day. Now that we know how successful this is, the nutritional content of the meal needs scrutinised and power given back to communities to decide what goes into these mid-day meals from their local vicinity including indigenous crops. To promote healthy eating habits in communities, fund chefs to run community cooking workshops whether online or in person to help teach parents and other members of the public how to cook. This could also be done is a community supermarket if it has its own kitchen. Since doctors only receive 8 hours of nutrition training in their degree and there is an ever growing base of evidence to support the connection between diet and mind and body health, nutritionist and dieticians should be a larger part of the health service. Each GP should have a nutritionist where patients who would benefit from lifestyle and diet changes can go and have a longer appointment. There are initiatives such as Culinary Medicine UK which provide training to doctors in nutrition with a chef and a dietician. Interdisciplinary work such as this can play a key role in connecting the missing dots between diet and poor health outcomes. Power needs to be taken away from the pharmaceutical industry in controlling the approach to public health and be placed back into the hands of the individual. We need to move from disease care and to preventive health care universally but also to prevent children from damaging their microbiome through antibiotics at a young age. Access to good food is a right for everyone and there needs to be resources for new parents to learn not just about breastfeeding but also about nutrition for their children. Spices and herbs have been used for millennia to heal and promote good health within the human body, the active ingredients of which are in many pharmaceutical drugs. The link between food and medicine needs to be taught to young people so it empowers them to be interested in these powerful, healing foods. Read less

Improving health and nutrition for children and youths relies on prioritising good food, reducing advertising for processed and junk food and connecting children to local, sustainable, nutritious and affordable whole food from a young age: Currently in the UK less than 2% of Food and Drink advertising goes towards advertising healthy food. Therefore not only should advertising be reduced for processed food but governments should actively fund advertising to promote healthy food and consumption habits and be matched by in-school campaigns that have shown to be hugely successful in engaging yout... Read moreh and encouraging them to be active citizens in developing their food system. Children naturally know what is good for them if they are not mislead. Advertising which glamourises unhealthy food should be banned and in places such as petrol stations unhealthy snacks should not be on display so much as children are attracted by the bright packaging. Bring back school cooking lessons - food literacy should be prioritised as part of the curriculum. There are many wonderful schemes and charities working with schools but they are usually one-off events. We need food education to be embedded in schools to help shift the publics preferences and behaviours: eg in the UK, Food For Life initiatives should be supported in schools by the government. Connection to nature is fundamental for children to learn about food and it is also very good for their mental health. The closer children are to growing food, and knowing where it comes from, the more excited they are likely to get about it and there is evidence to suggest that when children do these activities at school, they are more likely to eat their 5 a day at home. Food literacy needs to happen both at school and at home. Drawing parallels between Africa and Ireland, sometimes even when children are educated at school, they go home and all the effort is lost as the parents either do not understand or cannot afford to eat more nutritious food. We have to take a holistic approach looking at the whole picture. As a society we have lost the skills to use affordable nutritious food at home. In order to support parents in providing good nutrition regardless of budget and background, not only do we need to look to schools where parents can be invited in to take part in cooking, but also in less obvious places such as Sure Start centres in the UK which could positively benefit families who are struggling. In India, mobile teaching kitchens have been used to teach parents how to cook and would be a great initiative in other countries As suggested in the report by the Jamie Oliver Food Foundation, schools should be ‘healthy zones’. Unhealthy food environments, particularly in secondary schools, compromises pupils’ ability to make good food choices. We should protect children from advertising, ultra processed foods and counter it with education and good quality food available at school. Schools should be hubs for health within communities to ensure young people are receiving appropriate food education. More support should be given to the school workforce; improvements in food education qualifications and resources are needed and stronger reporting and evaluation needs to be in place. Chefs in particular can play a major role in this food education especially when chefs are incorporated into the school ecosystem - giving cooking lessons and engaging the children in what they eat. School cooks have a huge opportunity to influence children's diet. Chefs need to be paid a living wage to to do this. The wider Chef community are an important voice for communicating what good and whole food is, can explain to people how to eat the rainbow and its benefits. There also needs to be much more interaction between chefs and those who are providing school meals. Governments especially in parts of India and Africa need to look at subsidising and championing indigenous varieties of food such as millet and fonio which are more nutritious than traditionally subsidised wheat and rice crops. This would make the the nutritious food more affordable and would support women who are often the smaller scale farmers. Read less

The origins of the health crisis we are currently facing in the west and certainly in the UK of obesity and overweight, has its origins in the education of children, youth and parents which should be prioritised and given financial support by the government. Nutrition needs to be prioritised for the first 21 years of life as non-communicable and chronic disease has its origins in the cells of our young people. We need to see the investment in the learner ages 0-21 as investments in the future to prevent illness and lifestyle diseases. Teachers can play a key role in this education. If they wer... Read moree trained about the importance of diet in their PGCEs, they would be less likely to accept poor food systems in the their schools. (see discussion topic 3) Community can also play a key role in this; encouraging everyone to be active members in their food system and use their voices for change. Schools could be at the centre of urban growing initiatives (example given in discussion topic 2) in support of their community and vice versa. We need to be a part of nature’s ecosystem again and show children how to be part of that ecosystem rather than detached from it. It is important to listen to the voice of children, empower them with the knowledge to recognise healthy and nutritious food, how they identify with it culturally and understand how the food they eat affects them. Children intuitively know what is good for them when we connect them to nature. Supply chains should be shortened wherever possible - the closer children are to food growing or growing it themselves either in a school or community garden the more likely they are to be interested in it and appreciate it. Not only can Chefs play a key role in school ecosystems but they are also key in communicating what good, whole food is and how we can cook it and make it taste good. In many countries in Africa, malnutrition and obesity lives side by side. This is a direct result of urbanisation and the glamorisation of fast food. In these countries, effort needs to be made to eliminate the stigma around growing your own food so that is no longer seen as poverty but community initiatives could come together to create urban gardens and remove the stigma. Chefs can play a major role in removing this stigma and teaching people how to cook with indigenous varieties of crops. Indigenous and heritage varieties of food should be prioritised for subsidies by governments when they are more nutritious than rice and wheat. Indigenous food should also be included in school feeding program meals and communities should have a say in what food is used for these meals & be able to shorten supply chains using locally grown food giving children nutrient dense food and not empty calories just to fill their bellies. Providing school meals and school feeding programs is good, but the food also has to be nutritious as this has a direct impact on learning & concentration. Food literacy i.e -the skills and knowledge for how to be healthy for life needs to be prioritised as part of school curriculums. Cooking and Nutrition was introduced into the English national curriculum for all 5-14 year olds in 2014, but no study or evaluation has since taken place on how it is being delivered. Food education and learning should be managed by an official body such as Ofsted. Where food literacy is not yet part of the curriculum, it should not be forgotten how relevant food is in so may subjects at school from languages, to history, to geography, there is no subject into which food cannot be incorporated and be used as an enriched learning tool. Food literacy needs to happen in tandem at school and at home and we can use innovative ideas to help teach parents how to cook such as mobile teaching kitchens which have already been shown to be successful in India and funding chefs to give community cooking classes. Exercise and teaching the importance of staying active needs to be a compulsory part of the curriculum worldwide. Governments should actively fund advertising to promote healthy foods, healthy, sustainable consumption habits and the importance of movement and exercise and follow up with a school roll out around the campaigns. Social media platforms should give free advertising for healthy food and lifestyle adverts. Governments need to intervene to stop the commercialisation of food in schools, hospitals and universities. The importance of chefs in these setting needs to be recognised. Ultra processed foods should be taxed by the government and additives in food should be reduced and some banned in order to prevent compulsive consumption. Some artificial colours and preservatives that should be banned worldwide are E-numbers tartrazine (E102), quinoline yellow (E104), sunset yellow (E110), carmoisine (E122), ponceau 4R (E124) and allura red (E129); the dangers of which are well known and are known to cause hyperactivity, are linked to stomach upsets and swelling of skin. Power needs to be taken away from the pharmaceutical industry in controlling the approach to public health and placed back into the hands of the individual. We need to move from disease care to preventive health care.Nutritionists should be available for appointments at GP surgeries and new parents should see a nutritionist as part of their baby care lessons. People do not realise the power that they do have over their own health and the earlier food literacy is taught, the earlier connection to nature is realised, the more we will have populations that are able to take care of their own health. Read less

The triple burden of malnutrition – undernutrition, hidden hunger and overweight – threatens the survival, growth and development of children and young people worldwide. Well-nourished children are better able to grow, learn, participate in their communities and be resilient in the face of adversity. Having read the scientific paper for Action Track 1 and with the recent controversy around schools meals throughout Covid-19, especially - but not limited to - the UK, we decided to look deeper into how we can feed all children better. The following areas were identified by the scientific grou... Read morep for Action Track 1 in order to put children’s nutrition rights first: Empower families, children, young people and women to demand affordable nutritious food; Drive food supplies to do the right thing for children; Build healthy food environments for all children; Mobilise supportive systems to scale up nutrition results for every child; Collect, analyse and use good-quality data and evidence regularly to guide action and track progress. Through the Dialogue, we wanted to expand on these points and encourage collaboration among the different stakeholders invited as well as across sectors in different countries. Key statistics: • In the UK, 1 in 4 school pupils aged 11-15 are obese • Teenagers consume on average 8 times the recommended daily sugar allowance • Only 1 in 12 young people aged 11-18 eat five portions of fruit and vegetables every day • Approximately 36,000 children and young people under 19 have diabetes in the UK • London has more overweight and obese children than any other global city • Poor children are more likely than better off children to suffer from poor health as a result of food insecurity. • Worldwide, 38.2 million children under the age of 5 years were overweight or obese in 2019 and the prevalence of over overweight among children and adolescents aged 5-19 has risen dramatically from just 4% in 1975 to just over 18% in 2016. Read less

There were some areas of divergence seen between some panelists when it comes to the area of the private sector. The notion that the private sector is good at responding to market demand and consumer preferences, i.e.. reducing salt, sugar, saturated fats when demanded by consumers was not shared by all panelists. There was also divergence in the area of education and labelling products to consumers.

Below are ten key discussion outcomes from this panel discussion: 1. The pandemic has shown us that diseases which are nutrition related have led to the biggest number of hospitalizations and deaths. There is a correlation between diseases such as hypertension, diabetes and nutrition. 2. Food shouldn’t be treated as a commodity but rather a basic human right. 3. Unhealthy food options and processed food is cheaper for the consumer due to subsidies on foods like wheat, corn and soy. There is a need to subsidize healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and nuts. This would result in lowering ... Read morethe price of healthy food for the consumer. 4. Farmers are the soul and heart of healthy food systems and we must ensure that governments support them and ensure their survival and sustainability for the generations to come. 5. In terms of universalization of some of the policies, school feeding programs could ensure that young people and children within their school are able to have the nutrition they need. 6. A need is to incentivize some of the local growers within their society. They will be working in order to provide food within the society and the communities rather than focusing on very huge business opportunities which provide food but most of the food are high in calories and sugar. 7. The government mechanisms are effective in making sure that all these are key players that are working on the creature that is enhanced and are able to do their way. 8. The pandemic underscores the importance of resilience in food systems, which we should learn from to prepare for future emergencies. 9. Subsidization almost always gets capitalized in increased costs of land, labor, and capital, therefore the price structure increases, which eventually increases the cost to consumers. 10. The private sector is well aware that bigger and bolder moves need to be made in the direction of human rights, and the private sector and farmers have an important role to play. Read less

The main findings of this discussion focused on the areas listed below: 1. For food insecurity in the past, we have mostly focused on yield, income, and very particular metrics, but we know that we also have to look at equity, health and access. 2. Youth are an important part of the conversation because they are pushing for diets to change in many ways. They are not willing to have the same sort of calorie rich but nutrient deficient diets that have been part of our global diets for so long. 3. With so many people falling ill from the COVID-19, unhealthy diets are contributing to pre-existing ... Read moreconditions that put them more at risk. 4. COVID-19 puts diets at risk through disrupted health and nutrition services, job and income losses, disruptions in local food supply chains, and as a direct result of infections among poor and vulnerable people. 5. The manner in which food systems absorb, recover, adapt and transform in response to the shock of COVID-19 will shape their level of resilience and their ability to deliver on the longer-term triple challenge. 6. The COVID-19 pandemic is affecting food and nutrition security through economic and social systems shocks, food system disruptions and gaps in coverage of essential health and nutrition services. 7. Food systems in low- and middle-income countries must adapt and strengthen food and nutrition security in the wake of COVID-19. Read less

Co-organized by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food Tank, and Global Alliance for the Future of Food, and in partnership with the UN Food System Summit (UNFSS) Champions Network, presented seven-panel discussions (running one event each month from January to June 2021) focusing on how to transform the world’s food systems. Each virtual series explored one of the Global Alliance’s seven Calls to Action and brought together more than 25+ UNFSS Champion speakers worldwide, including world-renowned activists, journalists, business leaders, farmers, policy and technical... Read more experts, and many others. Each conversation will help set the stage and identify critical pathways to create a better future of food and strengthen our global food systems for the upcoming UNFSS in September 2021. This final discussion highlighted the Global Alliance’s Call to Action: Promote nutrient-dense, whole food diets underpinned by diversified food production adapted to different microclimates and socio-cultural contexts. Moderators Danielle Nierenberg of Food Tank and Ruth Richardson of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food opened the discussion by contextualizing it within the inequities and weak points of food systems highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Richardson stated that a shift towards resilience is required to prevent further such shocks to food systems. This panel discussion fhad key focus on Action Track 5, which aims to work to ensure the continued functionality of sustainable food systems in areas that are prone to conflict or natural disasters. The Action Track will also promote global action to protect food supplies from the impacts of pandemics. Panelists echoed these calls for change but presented differing ideas of what kinds of change are needed. Dorit Adler of the Israeli Forum for Sustainable Nutrition identified the western diet as a causal factor in the prominence of diseases including hypertension, diabetes, and COVID-19 as well as the environmental destruction of industrial agriculture and advocated for the subsidization of nutritious staples of the Mediterranean diet instead. Rick White of the Canadian Canola Growers Association pointed out the need to ensure that farmers continue to be economically viable and stressed the importance of government support for agriculture and nutritional education. Mike Nkhombo Khunga of the SUN Civil Society Network explained the need to make agriculture more accessible to youth, who are motivated to create sustainable food systems but encounter barriers to getting involved. The discussion presented connections between food systems, diet, the pandemic, and national security, among other concerns, indicating a need for a systems perspective when creating solutions. Panelists explained the need to incorporate gender and local culture in decision making and to seek opportunities for collaboration between the public and private sectors. Most importantly, all three panelists agreed that food is a human right and that it needs to be made affordable, accessible, and appropriate to local cultural and environmental context. Read less

All panelists agreed that it is important to support women, smallholder farmers, youth, and Indigenous peoples in agroecology. Some participants argued that consumer demand promotes the uptake of regenerative farming while others emphasized that there is generally a limited understanding of the topic amongst consumers. However, all agreed that more education is needed to help the public understand the impacts of their purchasing decisions.

Discussion Topics: Investment in ways that consumers receive information that helps them with their choices and helps them understand the way healthy diets and sustainability can be built. The panelists argue that education at all levels is key. Panelists emphasized the importance of knowledge that is held by and shared within Indigenous communities, recommending that a focus is put on intergenerational knowledge and the knowledge transfer that needs to occur from the elders to the youth. A next step identified would be investment in ways that consumers receive information that helps them with... Read more their choices and helps them understand the way healthy diets and sustainability can be built. Technology can be used to create awareness and sustainability and healthy diets. E-commerce provides greater reach to and for the consumer. Read less

Key Findings: Panellists believed that knowledge bases on agroecology must be shared with policymakers, who can support and help scale up agroecology and regenerative approaches. They discussed the need for strong connections between various generations, countries and sectors in order to scale-up agroecological practices. Some panellists found that government financing and investments from philanthropists can aid in the transformation. For better transformation, it was found that healing frameworks should be used and implementation of intergenerational knowledge and knowledge transfer. Consume... Read morer advocacy groups have reached out to sustainable farmers in their respective countries and formed connections. Some consumer advocacy groups started to bring consumers into asking about where their food comes from, how their food is made, and where we are looking at substitutes for meat. Overall, agroecology as a science and a movement is a transformative way to break out of many current crises afflicting the planet. One of the reasons that agroecology is so transformational is that it provides us multiple benefits from restoring ecosystems to building climate resilience, from ensuring food security and nutrition to promoting sustainable livelihoods, from protecting biodiversity to upholding human rights. Read less

Co-organized by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food Tank, and Global Alliance for the Future of Food, and in partnership with the UN Food System Summit (UNFSS) Champions Network, presented seven-panel discussions (running one event each month from January to June 2021) focusing on how to transform the world’s food systems. Each virtual series explored one of the Global Alliance’s seven Calls to Action and brought together more than 25+ UNFSS Champion speakers worldwide, including world-renowned activists, journalists, business leaders, farmers, policy and technical... Read more experts, and many others. Each conversation will help set the stage and identify critical pathways to create a better future of food and strengthen our global food systems for the upcoming UNFSS in September 2021. The sixth event highlighted the Global Alliance's call to action: creating enabling environments for agroecology and regenerative approaches where investments can flourish and benefit all. This overlaps with action track #3, as it connects to nature-positive production. The discussion focused on ways to enable these practices through investment, education, advocacy, and government. Each participant brought a unique perspective to this challenge. This discussion aims to understand the ways that enabling environments can be created, the actions to be taken, what are the obstacles in the way, what are the dominant narratives that influence decision making, what are the knowledge gaps that need to be filled and how do we create the political will where agroecological innovation can flourish. The event is part of a series of panels with themes inspired by Global Alliance’s Seven Calls to Action to transform the food system. Moderated by Ruth Richardson, Executive Director of the Global Alliance and Danielle Nierenberg, President of Food Tank, each conversation features members of the United Nations Food Systems Champions Network. Helena Leurent of Consumers International explained that greater awareness among consumers can change dietary preferences in favour of sustainable agriculture. Vijay Kumar of RySS, India, described the pivotal roles of both government investment and grassroots, women-led collectives in increasing access to sustainable agriculture practices. Denisa Livingston of the Diné Community Advocacy Alliance and Slow Food International provided a reminder of the importance of Indigenous peoples and their traditional knowledge in creating more sustainable food systems. Lana Weidgenant of Zero Hour International highlighted the importance of young people to the future of both climate activism and agriculture, and argued that agroecology has promise to improve youth participation in agriculture. Finally, Emile Frison of the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food) presented some of the most challenging obstacles to creating policies which favour agroecology and sustainable food production, including poor awareness among policy makers and the profit-driven nature of the agricultural sector, and stressed the need for a paradigm shift in our thinking about food systems. Read less

In this discussion the panelists seemed to hold supporting views and there weren’t any clear areas of divergence. The panelists agreed that the UNFSS will serve as a catalyst for change, but the challenge will be to translate these dialogues into national policies and implementation.

Discussion Topics: The first prominent issue the panel identified was the fragmentation and fracture of the sector, investors, there is a need for a greater understanding of different institutions and opportunities. The second major issue that was discussed in the panel was it is important to not assume that investment opportunities and finance are connected, or lead to one another. These investment opportunities need to be designed, prepared for and tended to. Another issue is private capital is moving away from this kind of investment, which is a big problem as we continue to look to invest ... Read morein these solutions and put food systems at the center of the solutions set for many of the issues we are facing. Many funders focus almost exclusively on short-term horizons, and there is a need to focus on long-term horizons. Another prominent problem identified was risk, and the multiple dimensions of risk. The last issue identified was power differentials, there is a need to understand that they are very prominent within the financing world in particular. Power differentials are present in terms of who has a seat at the table, who is a part of the decision-making process, and solutions need to address how to balance representation at said table. Solutions Discussed by the Panel To address the fragmentation and fractured landscape as there is a need to be more interconnected and need to create an ecosystem landscape. There is a need to understand how private and public come together particularly for the repurposing of public support and how those financial offerings come together and are mutually supportive of one another. It is imperative to strengthen know-how, in particular, knowledge, and understanding of the system and opportunities within the system. Another solution suggested was co-designing with actors at the table. This goes back to power differentials, markets designed must be connected to and in service of, smallholder farmers by including all actors, especially those on the ground. Measurement and evaluation is a key solution in ensuring that things are visible, and progress is noticed. Values are important in measurement and evaluation because it helps determine what needs to be measured. It is important to ensure that intergenerational equity, youth, justice and fairness, equity, gender, resilience, and diversity are values at the center of conversations as they are important for funding flows to support deeper values. Read less

● Panelists believe that finance itself does not unlock investment opportunities, and thus good investment opportunities must have not only funding, but be well designed, prepared and de-risked. ● Panelists noted that investment opportunities must be demand driven and serve the interests of small-holder farmers. ● Some panelists argued that a next step which should be taken is for funders to actively track the number of local organizations that are getting financing, ensuring that local community actors are sufficiently funded and able to act sustainably. ● Panelists argued that stakeh... Read moreolders must break down silos and promote greater collaboration, between all sectors on the local, state and federal levels. ● Panelists believe there can be a mutually beneficial relationship between the public and private sector if collaboration is effective. Read less