Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

Sujet 10 : défaillance des Systèmes d’information Il ressort des concertations menées que les principaux problèmes identifiés relativement à ce sujet sont : • les chocs économiques tels que les fluctuations des prix des produits agropastoraux locaux ; • la commercialisation et accès au marché. • l’absence d’informations agro-météorologiques Les actions envisagées pour y remédier sont les suivantes:  la production des informations agro-climatologiques et mise à la disposition des acteurs ;  la mise en place du système d’information sur les marchés ;  la di... Read moregitalisation du système de collecte et de traitement de l’information sur les marchés. Read less

Au terme des concertations, quatre recommandations principales ont été formulées, à savoir : (i) Accroître durablement les productions, (ii) Améliorer l’environnement infrastructurel collectif et l’accès aux facteurs de production et aux marchés, (iii) Renforcer la résilience des systèmes de production, la gestion durable des ressources naturelles, et la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle des populations vulnérables face aux changements climatiques et autres chocs, (iv) Améliorer la gouvernance des systèmes alimentaires. En ce qui concerne l’accroissement durable les p... Read moreroductions, il sera question de : (a) doter les structures de recherche de financement adéquat pour booster la production des géniteurs et des semences de pré bases et bases ; (b) mettre en place un cadre incitatif pour le secteur privé dans la création variétale et le renforcement du dispositif de contrôle pour tester la qualité des semences disponibles ; (c) renforcer les capacités des multiplicateurs semenciers; (d) finaliser et vulgariser la réforme foncière en cours ; (e) opérationnaliser la politique de subvention des intrants agricoles ; (f) impliquer les groupes vulnérables dans le processus de prise de décisions pour favoriser leur accès aux facteurs de production ; (g) mettre en place un cadre de collaboration entre les institutions de recherches, les universités, les ministères et les Collectivité Territoriales Décentralisées. S’agissant de l’amélioration de l’environnement infrastructurel collectif et l’accès aux facteurs de production et aux marchés, il sera question de : (a) Réhabiliter les pistes agricoles existantes et créer de nouvelles pour désenclaver les bassins de production ; (b) réhabiliter les infrastructures existantes et construire de nouvelles infrastructures communautaires ; (c) promouvoir le partenariat entre les CTDs et les administrations; (d) renforcer la synergie entre les acteurs étatiques intervenants dans les bassins de production ; (e) vulgariser les normes de productions; (f) renforcer la résilience des producteurs en facilitant leur intégration aux marchés nationaux et régionaux ; (g) renforcer les capacités des producteurs et des consommateurs sur les techniques de conservation ; (h) renforcer les infrastructures de transformation, conditionnement et stockage ; (i) mettre en place des incitations pour encourager le secteur privé à investir dans les installations de stockage et équipement de transformation ; (g) valoriser l’utilisation de l’énergie solaire. En ce qui concerne le renforcement de la résilience des systèmes de production, la gestion durable des ressources naturelles, et la sécurité alimentaire et nutritionnelle des populations vulnérables face aux changements climatiques et autres chocs, il est question de : (a) renforcer les capacités des acteurs sur les politiques publiques de promotion des pratiques agro écologiques, de gestion durable des sols et de l’eau; (b) développer et produire des espèces et variétés adaptées au changement climatique ; (c) anticiper sur les risques et la création d’une structure de gestion des crises ; (d) promouvoir et renforcer les capacités pour la production des aliments à haute valeur nutritive; (e) renforcer le système de protection sociale en faveur des ménages pauvres et autres groupes vulnérables afin de favoriser l’accès de tous aux aliments indispensables et disponibles; (f) élaborer et vulgariser les normes alimentaires minimales et assurer la mise à l’échelle des initiatives; (g) former les acteurs à l’utilisation raisonnée des produits phytosanitaires et vétérinaires; (h) développer des standards et cadre légaux pour booster un changement dans le secteur privé et rendre les compagnies comptables des impacts sociaux et environnementaux de leurs activités ; (i) faciliter l’accès des personnes réfugiés et déplacés interne aux terres cultivables ; (j) développer des outils d’atténuation des conflits Homme-Faune; (k) apporter une assistance multisectorielle aux personnes affectées par les conflits et l’insécurité ; (l) mettre en place au sein des communautés cibles des Plans d’actions pour la Gestion de la Filière viande de brousse. S’agissant de l’amélioration de la gouvernance dans les systèmes alimentaires, il sera question de : (a) structurer les acteurs autour des chaines de valeurs des produits agro-sylvo-pastoraux et halieutiques ; (b) renforcer les capacités des acteurs et les accompagner à la professionnalisation; (c) intensifier la communication autour des programmes d’insertion des jeunes; (e) renforcer les initiatives d’insertion des jeunes dans le secteur; (f) améliorer les services de base en matière d’accès au marché ; (g) produire et diffuser les informations agro-climatologique; (h) mettre en place un système d’information sur les marchés ; (i) développer des partenariats et promouvoir le financement du secteur agropastoral par les établissements de microfinance; (j) développer des mécanismes de financements innovants et de systèmes d’assurances agricoles adaptées et accessibles ; (k) mettre en place un mécanisme de financement endogène des appuis aux filières à partir des prélèvements directs. Read less

Les concertations des parties prenantes en vue de la participation du Cameroun au premier sommet des nations unies sur les systèmes alimentaires a porté sur les cinq pistes d’actions ci-après : (i) l’accès de tous à des aliments sains et nutritifs ; (ii) les modèles de consommation durables ; (iii) la Stimulation d’une production respectueuse de la nature ; (iv) la promotion des moyens de subsistance équitables et le Renforcement de la résilience face aux vulnérabilités, aux chocs et au stress. Parallèlement aux concertations étatiques, des études et concertations indépenda... Read morentes ont été conduites parmi lesquelles : L’étude d'impact socio-économique des effets de la COVID 19 sur les stratégies paysannes et I ’adaptation des filières agricoles et alimentaires au Cameroun ; l’étude liée à l’analyse des systèmes alimentaires au Cameroun, les concertations indépendantes de la Plateforme Régionale des Organisations Paysannes d’Afrique Centrale (PROPAC), et le dialogue d'inclusion de haut niveau sur les jeunes, les femmes, les personnes handicapées et autres groupes vulnérables) facilité par le Climate Smart Agriculture Youth Network Global (GCSAYN). Ces initiatives complémentaires ont également permis de dégager les actions en cohérence avec les cinq les piliers ainsi que la position commune des ministres de la CEEAC. Read less

Areas of divergence Across the discussion on all the four topics some specific issues raised debate or have been highlighted as possible source of debate, in particular: 1) Very little of the income is spent on food. How is it possible to put the right value on food? Sustainable foo choices can and probably should be more expensive, but on the other end not everyone can afford to spend the same amount of money on groceries, so how is it possible to reconcile the need to value the food and to limit practices, such as special offers and price reductions, that fuel food waste with the right to fo... Read moreod? 2) Consumers are used to find groceries shops well stocked at all times and restaurants ready to offer a wide choice of dishes which inevitably leads to food being wasted. What is the main cause? Aggressive market practices or consumers demand? And where do you start from to tackle this issue? Participants point out that this Is a vicious circle; if a retailer or a restaurant limit their offer, the majority of consumer would simply just look for another shop or restaurant where they can find a better choice 3) If local production has to be boosted to better answer to future environmental and climate-change related challenges, region’s biodiversity and water sources could be threatened. 4) To enhance sustainability of food productions there Is a need to increase areas dedicated to the promotion of biodiversity within farms (already envisaged in the Swiss agricultural policy ), but “ farmers are not gardeners” and there is a need to protect their steadily decreasing income 5) What to determine the most relevant dimension of sustainability: a clear example of trade-off was brought up during discussions: What’s more sustainable local food or fair-trade products? Are local products fair? Are long distance fair food imports sustainable? 6) Some of the participants pointed out that technological and digital innovations not necessarily end up making it easier for producers and local businesses to carry out their work. In many recent cases this just resulted in an additional bureaucratic burden Read less

4) Entrepreneurship, innovation, science and technology In this group the stakeholders discussed: 1) how the agri-food sector can apply the results of scientific research and adopts cutting-edge technologies that promote sustainability 2) how companies can promote sustainable and the wellbeing of the community by applying innovative organizational and production systems. The group’s main conclusion was that even if technology will shape our ways to produce and consume, innovation is not necessarily related to technological progress, but rather to a change in thinking about how people are use... Read mored to acting in today's society. To bring about the needed change marketing campaigns should be carried out on all existing media (digital and non-digital) to promote the true value of food, convince people to adopt different consumption habits and pushing them to support a premium price to promote products that were produced in respect to society and the environment. Boosting local food production is a way to better cope with future challenges related to climate change and reduce carbon footprint from imports. Local food producers should already start to adapt their production to future challenges (environmental changes, increased bacterial risk, etc) by selecting crops better suited to the area. Mapping challenges might help producers to make informed and better decisions. Participants in the group discussion reckoned that micro-enterprises are the key to future sustainable development, as they are better able to optimize land resources and reduce waste. They also stressed the importance of creating partnerships and networks to exchange information and ideas, increasing the collective positive impact on the region. Throughout the dialogue participants underlined the importance of sharing and collaborating, creating partnerships and networks to exchange information and ideas. From academia, where multiple disciplines can and should work together to promote systems transformation. Equally for businesses, where multiple companies can and should work together to create larger scale projects and multiply their impact, to regions which can and should work together even if only by creating joint awareness campaigns and joint projects of larger scale and influence. Read less

3) Sustainable production In this group the stakeholders discussed 1) How agricultural sector can reduce its ecological footprint by making more efficient use of local resources preserving biodiversity and animal welfare; 2) how to improve farmers resilience through the promotion of circular economy, short commercial circuits, and synergies with other sectors. During the discussion, some participants highlighted the fact that often citizens are not aware of the efforts local farmers are already making to transform food production (i.e using renewable energy sources, conservation agriculture te... Read morechniques, etc.) and the importance of their role as consumers to trigger and sustain a wider production shift. Thus, the group suggested to: • Improve education on food sustainability in schools. • Encourage supermarkets to promote local and sustainable food, for example through special dedicated offers and/or initiatives such as « local food days », but also through invest part of their revenues to supports local projects • Enhance possibilities for farmers to produce directly for end customers (public and company canteens, consumer groups, etc.) thus it would be possible for producers to negotiate an appropriate remuneration and for consumers to have a say on the production systems. • Change local regulation on public procurement because at the moment there are no clear criteria rewarding sustainability in the public procurement law, that’s make it very difficult for cities to prioritize local and environmentally friendly food. • Simply and better regulate labeling standards of food. In Switzerland there are too many labels (30 only for organic products) promoting sustainable consumption and prioritizing different criteria, this can be confusing for consumers. Another important point raised during group works is that existing legal framework on environmental protection must be adapted to allow producers to comply with sustainability requirements while securing their income. Technological solutions and innovations in cultivation techniques can help the transformation of farms but it is still necessary to invest in their improvement and dissemination Read less

2) SUSTAINABLE NUTRITION In this group stakeholders discussed: 1) how to make people more aware of the importance to adopt healthier and more sustainable diets 2) how to make more sustainable choices available for consumers at a price that includes environmental, social, and economic cost of food. One of the first points raised during the discussion is that to address this complex issue a more systemic and holistic approach is needed: : it’ s not enough to promote local food or raise consumers’ awareness, for example, on food waste if the food supply chain is built to made all kind of food... Read more available at every moment in huge quantities, thus encouraging the consumption of products with a higher carbon footprint or causing food wastage. This first consideration led participants to underline the importance for a community to define what is a sustainable food system, what are the shared values and the priorities to be pursued: (i.e., should priority be given to better remuneration of producers -resulting in higher prices-or wider access to food?) so that decision-making, awareness raising, and education can be shaped accordingly. Education is crucial to change consumer’s behavior but should not be limited to schools. A “continuous” education on food and nutrition issues has been called for because well informed citizens can trigger important changes even at the legislative level (as, for example it happened in the past during a campaign against GMO products). Proximity emerged as key element to enhance the sustainability of nutrition. More local products should be served in schools’ canteens, elders’ homes and hospitals even if they are more expensive, but implementation of the national law of public procurement at the regional level is too strict, according to participants in the group discussion. Local governments, then, should change regulations to take into greater consideration criteria related to food sustainability rather than price improving access to public procurement for small producers. Greater proximity between consumers and producers was also called for, for example through new tools such as the digital platform connecting farmers with restaurants being tested in the Poschiavo valley. As regarding price of food, the participants pointed out that currently it does not reflect the true value and costs of food, therefore there is a need to find better ways to take into consideration environmental, medical, and social cost of food production and distribution. One way could be improving the food labeling and certification mechanism and its transparency to avoid corporate green washing but also misleading choices: i.e local food production is not necessarily fair and environmentally friendly. Read less

1) FOOD WASTE AND LOSS In this group stakeholders discussed 1) how to reduce avoidable food waste and curb losses along the food chain 2) how to encourage consumers to acknowledge the environmental cost of food waste and act consequently. Participants agreed that food waste is the results of several causes, therefore single actors do not have the solution and a strong coordinated action to tackle this issue is needed. Nonetheless since a large part of food waste occurs at the household level, to raise awareness and educate consumers is key. At this regard it was highlighted that more transpare... Read morency on all the food related aspects it is needed. Consumers should know what efforts it takes to produce food, what resources are used in the production, what is the carbon footprint of their groceries shopping, how the value is shared along the food supply chain. At the moment food prices do not reflect the true value of food therefore it is easier to waste it. Thus, increase the price of out of season, imported produce and promote seasonal and local ones can help consumers to buy more consciously, in the meantime reducing food losses for local farmers. Yet, expiry dates are too conservative, consumers should learn to determine when a product is still good for consumption. Finally local authorities have fundamental role to play in fostering education and information on food and bridge the gap between consumer and producer. During the discussions some concrete solutions were proposed such as • Introduce a system of double labeling: show on labels not only the price to be paid, but also the price with externalities giving the consumer the choice to pay the real price of food and use the revenues for food waste measures, • Find a way to invite consumers to use their senses to assess whether the product is still good (smelling, looking, and tasting) instead of throwing it away just because the expiry date has passed. • Introduce a system of compulsory recycling/tax on food waste following the steps of South Korea • Create opportunities to increase direct contacts between producers and consumers, so that for instance producers can propose tailored offers on seasonal local food at the weekly market: a way to reduce waste and educate customers. Participants also stressed that food retail sector should act in concert to accept less strict aesthetic standards and more flexible contracts with producers involving the purchase of the entire harvest, thus helping to reduce losses in the field. Only through a better dialogue between consumers and producers can a greater awareness of the cost of food waste be achieved. And local policy has an important role to play in fostering this dialogue. Read less

The discussions across the four groups highlighted some key common points: 1) It is important to define what kind of food system a community wants to build: what does make it sustainable, what are the main values and the priorities to be achieved and what the necessary trade-offs among the different sustainability dimensions. This would guide decision-making, awareness raising, and education. 2) It is necessary to increase consumers’ awareness on the true cost of food: only if people know better how much efforts it takes to produce food, what is the real environmental, economic, and social c... Read moreost of bringing it to the tables, will they stop wasting and adopt more sustainable eating habits (i.e. buy more seasonal local food and pay more for products with a higher environmental impact) 3) Raising awareness in schools on the importance of consuming sustainable product it is key 4) A closer relation between consumers and producers can trigger changes at many levels: i.e putting pressure on decision makers to adapt regulations and ensure local farmers a better access to public procurement; defusing certain marketing dynamics that lead to more food waste (such as special offers, aesthetic criteria etc.); shorten the food supply chain allowing producers to improve their revenues 5) Innovation in food systems is not necessarily the result of technological progress, but more a shift in thinking and it will be fostered by the creation of new partnerships and networks among producers, academia and consumers willing to exchange information and ideas, thus increasing collective positive impact on the territory. 6) Local governments have crucial role to play in promoting the sustainability of the food systems through bold comprehensive policies. 7) Micro-enterprises will be the key to future sustainable development, as they are better able to optimize natural resources use and reduce waste. Nevertheless, it is necessary to redefine the relationship between agriculture and the protection of biodiversity in order to allow small-scale producers to maintain the economic sustainability of their farms while respecting the environment. Read less

In preparation for the Food Systems Summit (FSS) in September 2021, Switzerland decided to implement a Multi-Stakeholder Food Systems Summit Dialogue (Fssd) at national level. This Dialogue took place in three stages, from March to June 2021. The City Food systems Dialogue of Bellinzona was part of the second stage which consisted in a series of three dialogues involving 5 cities to discuss solutions at local level. Representatives from all major food systems' stakeholder groups were invited to reflect and propose suggestions and recommendations on 4 topics: 1) Food waste and loss, 2) Sustaina... Read moreble production, 3) Sustainable diets and nutrition, 4) Entrepreneurship, innovation, science, and technology. These topics were chosen by the City of Bellinzona among those identified at national level and discussed during the first stage of Swiss national dialogue. They were formulated as statements of ambition for the city region in 2030. The purpose was to stimulate a discussion on the challenges to be overcome in order to achieve the envisioned goals, to explore concrete solutions and identify necessary trade-offs and possible forms of collaboration among stakeholders. Read less

FOOD AS COMMONS vs. FOOD AS BUSINESS: There had been controversial debates about the question whether food should be treated as a common good as opposed to the (currently prevailing) approach of treating it as a commodity and business. Some participants claimed that a reallocation of market power is needed to bring about a paradigm shift. REAL COST CALCULATION OF FOODS: In some groups, there were controversial discussions on what the real resp. sales prices of food should be. On the one hand there were claims that consumer prices for foods should integrate all external costs (environmental, he... Read morealth, social). According to certain real-cost scenarios, prices for animal foods such as beef could double, whereas other foods (e.g. vegetables) would be cheaper than today. - On the other hand, there were open questions on the social equity of such new price models, especially for lower income groups. INTERCONNECTENESS BETWEEN BIG AND SMALL BUSINESSES: There were non-conclusive discussions in some groups on the question, how small and large businesses (e.g. retailers, caterers, traders) can get equal opportunities to engage in food system transformation processes and how they can best cooperate. Entry barriers for small businesses to invest in innovations are often higher than for large companies with higher risk absorption capacities (financial, staff). Some stakeholders claimed that there should be support programs - e.g. from cities or cantons - targeted at small businesses and start-ups. INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR and DECISION: Several of the proposed measures address the individual behaviour of consumers - e.g. a shift towards sufficiency, zero waste, lower consumption of animal products. Stakeholders differed about the question to what extent individual freedom of decision (personal responsibility) should build the main basis of change, and on the other hand to what extent measures should be guided by limiting or supporting regulations and conditions (positive or negative financial incentives, new norms etc.) which would reduce individual freedom of decision. Read less

COLLECTIVE GASTRONOMY / LARGE-SCALE GASTRONOMY STATEMENT 1: The environmental footprint per menu has been reduced by 30% on average by 2030, thanks to a combination of purchasing, menu planning and food waste management. Guest satisfaction is maintained or even increased. PROPOSED MEASURES: As a future target, caterers should offer attractive, mainly plant-based menus, using mainly regional and seasonal ingredients that offer clients enjoyment. First step: reduce the offer of meat-based diets. To stimulate awareness and emotional linkages for consumers, the group recommends to invest in broad ... Read moresensitization, e.g. to work with influencers and "role models"through video messages or social media - bringing the topic of healthy and sustainable diets at home and inspiring individual consumers (bridge between own kitchen and gastronomy). Some caterers made the experience that an explicit marketing of "Vegi-Days" often provokes more antagonism than if it were just implemented without specific advertisement. The group concluded that besides communication a lot can be achieved in menu planning/cooking by creating sust. default options and nudges. To achieve this, a strong need for training and further education among gastronomy personnel was identified, incl. management. The new orientation requires a complete rethinking both among caterers and consumers. Cities should facilitate the process continousely, based on realistic goals, innvolving chefs, purchasers and clients actively. At schools, the following challenges were identified: Sensitization of school management needs to be intensified (bring them fully on board). Also, as stated by one participant: "children are the most demanding and honest clients". A change in dietary regimes needs to go along with appropriate information work in the schools. STATEMENT 2: Clients do not have to decide about choosing sustainable meals since in 2030, all catering services will meet high sustainability standards. This means that guests can devote themselves entirely to enjoyment. PROPOSED MEASURES: The group agrees that stories and emotions around food remain key for consumers. They create identification, consciousness, attitude and connectedness to the producers and contribute the experience of eating food. Talking about the origins of food remains important. - Still, the group acknowledges that caterers have great influence on the food offer in terms of number and type of menus, purchase, food waste and cooking practices. It is suggested that caterers should communicate the sustainability indexes of menus (existing practice with ZFV). Yet the group recalls that information and stories alone will not be sufficient to prompt consumers to choose the environmentally friendly menu. We are influenced by habits.- How to change these? STATEMENT 3: A tailor-made, practice-oriented advisory service strengthens sustainable (collective) gastronomy. The caterers benefit from further education offers, a pool of experienced, locally based advisors and are supported by the City of Zurich. PROPOSED MEASURES: Further education for chefs about food purchase and planning of menus is considered key by the group. It also recommends the adaptation of training curricula by orienting them better to sustainability and health aspects. The group states that the offer of expert advise is valuable in the transformation process, provided a) it happens at eye level (not idealistic, educational); b) clients are involved, c) the process is supported by the organization, and d) the process is based on realistic goals and approaches. Knowledge and experience transfer is considered important, not only through experts but also peer-to-peer. Some participants propose to link advisory services to certain incentives (e.g. financial, publicity etc). Overall, the group sees the need of clearer, binding targets from politics (see: city of Biel). Such change processes need to be kicked-off top-down by policy makers and management. Low margins in the gastronomy sector are seen as a main challenge for operations to take risk and do major changes. Cities should play a key role in supporting caterers in this change process. Read less

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT OF FOOD: STATEMENT 1: The city's catering operations achieve the target of "50% sustainable products" in their purchasing. All products meet the city's minimum standards, mainly thanks to innovative offers and good cooperation with suppliers and contractual partners. PROPOSED MEASURES: As a main barrier for consistent inclusion of sustainability criteria in the city's food procurement, the group sees the existing practices according to the procurement law. Therein, the award criteria "price" receives strong weight, and product price often out-weights other award criteria. Th... Read moree group recommends that price should be given less weight in submissions. Food procurements should include sustainability criteria as valid and strong award criteria. It was also proposed to separate the criteria "price" from other award criteria and to consider that label products tend to be more expensive than non-labelled food. As a procedural strategy, the group recommended to apply the 50%-rule to entire product groups instead of single products. Specifying ecological criteria in submissions through "technical specifications" is relatively straight forward and less complex than social standards. The group recommends to use this scope to steer the procurements with regard to ecological sustainability criteria. Potential suppliers should be involved in the submission process at an early stage in order to a) orient procurements better to the existing offer, b) to communicate the city's product requirements (sustainability criteria) to suppliers as early as possible so that they can react to the demand, c) to smoothen the procurement process overall. Further, the group recommends to orient food procurements (e.g. schools, health centres etc.) consistently to the nutrition pyramid. In the case of Zurich, this is already practiced. An open question was whether sufficient supply of food complying with claimed ecological standards products exists. To ensure this, close collaboration with suppliers is required up front. STATEMENT 2: In the ordering process, chefs can reliably access information on nutritional value, allergens, label, CO2 equivalence and environmental footprint. With the help of this information, they can meet the legal requirements and reduce the environmental footprint of their purchases by 10%. PROPOSED MEASURES: There are existing good examples of transparent food order platforms such as the B2B-hub www.hogashop.ch. Further, the group recommends to use guidelines as offered by Eaternity.Org, MyClimate.ch, Beelong.ch, or the Menu Sustainability Index (MNI) developed by the ZHAW and ZFV. - Further, concrete targets and recommendations should be developed for chefs (see also BAFU food recommendations). Also, simple rules should be used as guidance, e.g. one day per week without meat, a daily vegetarian meal etc. At the level of trainings of cooks and catering personnel, sustainability in food chains should be fostered. STATEMENT 3: Centralised logistics reduce the number of journeys per business to a minimum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and costs. The urban catering businesses buy up to 10% of their goods directly from producers, who also benefit from these logistics. PROPOSED MEASURES: In the "Ernährungsforum Zürich", a working group is foreseen on this topic. The idea of centralised logistics would bring different advantages for collective gastronomy operations. There are existing platforms of which suppliers are part - What would be the added value of a new platform? In procurements, it is often difficult to involve smaller suppliers, but the positioning on sustainability standards offers an opportunity to them. A logistics platform could foster their access to submissions, e.g. through grouped offers. In the large-scale collective gastronomy sector, sales of regional products are not yet big and thus of low financial interest to businesses. Some participants claimed that public buyers, such as cities, have a leverage to increase the share of regionally traded food products, if procurements /tenders are oriented towards these. Read less

FOOD LOSS AND WASTE REDUCTION Participants discussed three statements: STATEMENT 1: In the city of Basel, (avoidable) food waste could be reduced by at least by half compared to 2019. STATEMENT 2: In Basel's businesses and institutions, food loss has been reduced as much as possible throughout the supply chain. STATEMENT 3: The majority of consumers and businesses are aware of the important contribution that the reduction of food waste and loss makes to the reduction of greenhouse gases and other environmental impacts, and are willing to contribute through own measures. PROPOSED MEASURES: The ... Read morefundament of actions, as claimed by the group, is awareness raising about food waste, its origins and the options to avoid it. Stakeholders consciousness on where they produce food waste and loss is often limited - at all levels of food chains, but in particular at the individual household level. Fostering awareness is key at the consumer level (including all age groups) to have an impact at household level, where the bulk of food waste occurs. Sensitization is also needed at all levels within businesses and institutions: from employees to the decision makers. - Topics of sensitization may include: shelf life and conservation of food; innovative and tasteful ways of preparing meals from leftovers; tools to measure individual food waste: how much ends up in my rubbish bin? (make the topic measurable at individual level); or ways of food sharing. Awareness raising and trainings should further provide insights into the origins, the production and processing methods and the "value chain journey" of foods, in order to stimulate higher appreciation and emotional linkages to food. The group claimed that food businesses should contribute to the above-mentioned sensitization or, through their campaigns, marketing tools, training of own personnel etc. Further, the group was unanimous that different types of incentives are needed to prompt businesses and consumers to reduce food waste and loss actively. Incentives can be financial (e.g. "waste costs", premiums for saved food), emotional (e.g. stories behind food) or social (e.g. good examples from peers). To avoid food waste and loss, or to find an alternative use of non-utilized food, collaborative efforts by different actors are needed in the food chain. Therefore, functioning networks and relationships among value chain actors are crucial for systematic food waste reduction. As stated by caterers and small food business owners in the group, many clients (consumers) are eager to contribute to saving food. In cities, consciousness about food is a growing trend and part of a "lifestyle". Approaches such as applied by the s"Äss-Bar" (sale of bakery products from the previous day) are popular. The food law constitutes a main constraint for reducing food waste in gastronomy and retail, since expired products - even if they are in perfect state - may not be sold or distributed. Consumer organizations have been claiming respective changes in the food law since long. At the individual household level, the group recommended the establishing of an online platform or hotline where consumers can get immediate advise with regard to the edibility and conservation of foods at home. Such a hotline could be hosted by the canton or the federal administration. Further, there are excellent innovative initiatives around on which further work should build and learn from: TooGoodToGo.ch offers food businesses a platform to sell surplus products to other companies or consumers; SaveFood.ch is an information and network hub on measures to save and share food or to link to local suppliers. Especially for perishable foods such as vegetables and fruits, the group recommends the fostering of exchange hubs between businesses. The fostering of regional, short food chains, of mainly non or low-processed food is seen as another key factor that will contribute to the reduction of food loss and waste. With short supply chains, the produce is usually fresher when reaching households. The fewer the processing steps in the chain, the lower food losses tend to be (see also points about regionalization under TOPIC 1). Read less

INTERCONNECTENDESS IN FOOD SYSTEMS STATEMEMT 1: Thanks to coordinated measures from all sectors, the city of Basel managed to reduce its greenhouse gas footprint in the area of food production and consumption by 25% compared to 2020. PROPOSED MEASURES: The city should act as initiator and moderator of coordianted measures: create spaces for information exchange, a public map of actors, an online platform with resources. Stronger coordination need was also identified among the departments of the city administration, and connectedness should not stop at the city borders, but include the wider re... Read moregion. Concrete measures include: increase of organic agricultural land (acc. to EU targets); lowering of animal products (production, consumption; definition of a "Zero Waste" target; and technical guidance to businesses on sustainable nutrition. Also, it was proposed to shift from mostly technical solutions (efficiency) towards a stronger sufficiency approach. The GHG reduction target of 25% was considered as little ambitious and should be increased. As important parts of emissions incur abroad: What scope for action do cities have there? Another challenge is the monitoring of reduction targets (what are the system boundaries?) STATEMENT 2: Thanks to multifaceted networks between actors in the local food industry, new regional value chains and short transport routes have emerged, and the potential for sales of regional products in the greater Basel area is exhausted at 100%. PROPOSED MEASURES: Fostering of dense networks among producers; creation of a virtual marketing platform for enhanced planning and logistics; the city acting as facilitator of knowledge and experience transfer between regional initiatives. Regionality allows the city to negotiate criteria and conditions with food chain actors. Basel being located in the "three-country triangle": How to cope with standards and regulations of neighbouring countries? Other challenges: What impact will enhance regionality at the landscape level (agricultural land)? How can local producers meet the demand? Is it in the interest of producers to sell only in their region? Participants claimed that the regionalisation at production level needs to go hand-in-hand with sensitization at consumer level (willingness to buy "regional"). It was further highlighted that surrounding areas are to be more closely involved in the cooperation. Short transport routes are only one aspect whereas direct contact and long-term relationships are other decisive factors of regionalisation. STATEMENT 3: Good cooperation between companies, research, the public sector and civil society organisations (associations, NGOs) has made Basel an innovation hub for sustainable food systems - from food production to consumption and disposal. PROPOSED MEASURES: To boost innovation, new easily accessible funding mechanisms are needed for initiatives, businesses etc. Financial resources are also required to maintain lively networks and relationships. Good collaboration also needs high transparency of information in food chains and access to relevant data (including IT systems). Another action should be the creation of physical spaces and places in the city where people can experience, see, touch the topic and through which the topic gets a strong presence. The idea of a "House of Food" - an interactive place that informs about the topic sustainable food, with events organized and advice offered by experts. Overall, again the need for a coordinated, regularly convened mechanism of dialogue was highlighted to foster interlinkages between actors of different sectors. There is ample knowledge and good intentions at the level of many individual actors, but often they act in isolation. Networks and relationship between different actors are a key towards implementing solutions. There should be a focus on fostering and using existing initiatives and to connect these with new ones, in order to use synergies rather than creating redundancies. Participants identified a strong potential for cities to connect more strongly with partners from the private sector in order to implement innovations in the sustainabel food sector. Read less

FROM KNOWLEDGE to ACTION: There was consensus among participants that there is ample knowledge among stakeholders about sustainable food systems and many are committed to contribute to a positive change. But they face challenges in translating their ideas into concrete action, e.g. to find the right partners, access to funding, expert support in specific topics, or access to networks. It was proposed to establish city contact points or advisory centres that support committed companies, associations or individuals in developing and realizing their projects. These centres would act as network an... Read mored knowledge hubs. Cities were found to be well placed to take a key role in this facilitation process. INTERCONNECTEDNESS as KEY to TACKLE FOOD SYSTEMS in their COMPLEXITY: The multiple dimensions of food systems requires multiple partners from different disciplines and sectors to collaborate. Dialogue and relationship are the fundament of such collaboration. The local level of cities offers ideal conditions for such close relationships between partners to implement concrete, context-specific solutions. LOWERING ENTRY BARRIERS: Cities can take an important role in fostering innovation in the sustainable food sector by supporting initiatives, start-ups etc. by lowering the initial barriers. For example through provision of unbureaucratic funding mechanisms (e.g. competitive grants), infrastructure (buildings, land) or by facilitating legal processes. ROLE OF CITIES in FOOD SYSTEMS = NEW: The role of cities as facilitators of change in local/regional sustainable food systems beyond the classical thematic silos "environment", "health" and "education" was found to be relatively new. Multistakeholder dialogues like this one are seen as important steps towards consolidating this new role. To be successful in this role, cities need comprehensive nutrition and food system strategies (such as the "Nachhaltige Ernährungsstrategie Zürich") that are anchored in and implemented by all relevant city departments. SENSITIZATION AT ALL LEVELS OF THE SYSTEM: To be willing to take own action, stakeholders need awareness about a) the relevant food system issues at stake, and b) the feasible options which they have at their hand to take action. Participants of the dialogue agreed that for this, strong and broad sensitization work is needed at all levels of the food system: with consumers, caterers, retail managers, cooks, school canteen personnel, farmers, traders, procurement officials etc. Within organizations, sensitization needs to reach all levels from employees to the executive suite. REDUCE BUREAUCRATIC BARRIERS: A strong claim was expressed by some participants that bureaucratic and regulatory barriers - at city, canton or federal level - need to be reduced in order to promote innovation in the sustainable food system sector, e.g. for building applications, admission of products, funding and tax schemes. Barrieres should in particular be reduced for small businesses and start-ups. CITIES AS GOOD EXAMPLES: There was an unanimous claim from stakeholders that cities should perform a convincing role as "good example", both in the internal processes (e.g.public procurement, nutrition at schools) and in their role as facilitator (supporting other actors and initiatives). Cities have high visibility and a strong leverage. They should create space for innovation, foster conscious lifestyles and create incentives. - As a crucial starting point, the cities need a holistic strategy for a sustainable food system. The strategy should provide a common direction for all relevant sectors and departments (health, environment, public procurement, schools, agriculture, allotment gardens, social aspects, etc.), as well as guidance for other stakeholders from business, research and civil society. Good cooperation across departments and with stakeholders is a key prerequisite for the implementation of the strategy. Read less

The City Dialogue Zurich and Basel is part of the second stage (out of three) of the Swiss National Food Systems Summit Dialogue, convened by the Delegate of the Federal Council for the 2030 Agenda of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and curated by the Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG). The 1st national food systems dialogue (23 March 2021) involved food systems stakeholders at national level and discussed 8 future statements developed on the basis of the five Action Tracks of the Food Systems Summit, and of the food systems approach of the 2030 Sustainable Development Stra... Read moretegy put out for public consultation by the Swiss Federal Council, the executive branch of the federal government, until 4 February 2021, as well as of other strategies of the Federal Council. The 2nd round of dialogues focused on context-specific discussions in selected cities representing three linguistic regions, namely Zurich/Basel (German) Geneva/Lausanne (French) and Bellinzona (Italian). The aim of the City Dialogues was to take up current key topics of the cities related to sustainable food systems and to involve a broad range of stakeholders to discuss concrete, feasible measures in these topics. The cities of Zurich and Basel proposed the following priority TOPICS for the dialogue: 1. INTERLINKAGES AND NETWORKS IN FOOD SYSTEMS: The complexity of food systems requires a joint, intersectoral approach beyond thematic or departmental "silos". Food systems are an interplay of actors from business, society, research and the public sector. How can this interaction be better utilised to make the urban food system more sustainable and thus make a contribution to greenhouse gas reduction, sustainable resource use, public health and economic development? What are the examples of good cooperation and networks between actors along the value chain? How can effective cooperation be promoted more strongly and synergies used, and what incentives are effective for this? 2. FOOD LOSS AND WASTE REDUCTION: On the one hand consumers always expect a full range of food products everywhere. On the other hand, a considerable amount ends up in the rubbish bin or gets lost along the value chain. What are the challenges in reducing food waste and loss and how can they be reduced at the different stages of the production and consumption chain? Who can contribute what and how do the different actors best work together? What can we learn from successful examples in the city and region of Basel? What challenges need to be overcome to make further progress? 3. PUBLIC PROCUREMENT OF FOOD: By procuring food, a public authority like a city has an important leverage to promote sustainable nutrition and food systems. At the same time, there are framework conditions and requirements from the public procurement law that must be complied with. Where do the stakeholders see the challenges in the supply chain? What can and do the stakeholders/suppliers achieve and how do they deal with the requirements of a city for ecological, health and social sustainability? What is the city of Zurich already doing, what are the goals and challenges for the future and how can solutions be found through effective multi-stakeholder collaboration? 4. COLLECTIVE AND LARGE-SCALE GASTRONOMY: There is big potential for companies in the collective and large-scale catering sector to orient their offer more strongly towards sustainability criteria and trends. The city of Zurich has set itself concrete goals in this regard. Where do the stakeholders see effective entry points for progress? What changes are feasible and desirable both from a sustainability and economic point of view and from a consumer's perspective? What innovative examples can we learn from? Read less

GOOD AS COMMONS vs. FOOD AS BUSINESS: There had been controversial debates about the question whether food should be treated as a common good as opposed to the (currently prevailing) approach of treating it as a commodity and business. Some participants claimed that a reallocation of market power is needed to bring about a paradigm shift. REAL COST CALCULATION OF FOODS: In some groups, there were controversial discussions on what the real resp. sales prices of food should be. On the one hand there were claims that consumer prices for foods should integrate all external costs (environmental, he... Read morealth, social). According to certain real-cost scenarios, prices for animal foods such as beef could double, whereas other foods (e.g. vegetables) would be cheaper than today. - On the other hand, there were open questions on the social equity of such new price models, especially for lower income groups. INTERCONNECTENESS BETWEEN BIG AND SMALL BUSINESSES: There were non-conclusive discussions in some groups on the question, how small and large businesses (e.g. retailers, caterers, traders) can get equal opportunities to engage in food system transformation processes and how they can best cooperate. Entry barriers for small businesses to invest in innovations are often higher than for large companies with higher risk absorption capacities (financial, staff). Some stakeholders claimed that there should be support programs - e.g. from cities or cantons - targeted at small businesses and start-ups. INDIVIDUAL BEHAVIOUR and DECISION: Several of the proposed measures address the individual behaviour of consumers - e.g. a shift towards sufficiency, zero waste, lower consumption of animal products. Stakeholders differed about the question to what extent individual freedom of decision (personal responsibility) should build the main basis of change, and on the other hand to what extent measures should be guided by limiting or supporting regulations and conditions (positive or negative financial incentives, new norms etc.) which would reduce individual freedom of decision. Read less

4. COLLECTIVE GASTRONOMY / LARGE-SCALE GASTRONOMY STATEMENT 1: The environmental footprint per menu has been reduced by 30% on average by 2030, thanks to a combination of purchasing, menu planning and food waste management. Guest satisfaction is maintained or even increased. PROPOSED MEASURES: As a future target, caterers should offer attractive, mainly plant-based menus, using mainly regional and seasonal ingredients that offer clients enjoyment. First step: reduce the offer of meat-based diets. To stimulate awareness and emotional linkages for consumers, the group recommends to invest in bro... Read moread sensitization, e.g. to work with influencers and "role models" through video messages or social media - bringing the topic of healthy and sustainable diets at home and inspiring individual consumers (bridge between own kitchen and gastronomy). Some caterers made the experience that an explicit marketing of "Vegi-Days" often provokes more antagonism than if it were just implemented without specific advertisement. The group concluded that besides communication a lot can be achieved in menu planning/cooking by creating sust. default options and nudges. To achieve this, a strong need for training and further education among gastronomy personnel was identified, incl. management. The new orientation requires a complete rethinking both among caterers and consumers. Cities should facilitate the process continuously, based on realistic goals, involving chefs, purchasers and clients actively. At schools, the following challenges were identified: Sensitization of school management needs to be intensified (bring them fully on board). Also, as stated by one participant: "children are the most demanding and honest clients". A change in dietary regimes needs to go along with appropriate information work in the schools. STATEMENT 2: Clients do not have to decide about choosing sustainable meals since in 2030, all catering services will meet high sustainability standards. This means that guests can devote themselves entirely to enjoyment. PROPOSED MEASURES: The group agrees that stories and emotions around food remain key for consumers. They create identification, consciousness, attitude and connectedness to the producers and contribute the experience of eating food. Talking about the origins of food remains important. - Still, the group acknowledges that caterers have great influence on the food offer in terms of number and type of menus, purchase, food waste and cooking practices. It is suggested that caterers should communicate the sustainability indexes of menus (existing practice with ZFV). Yet the group recalls that information and stories alone will not be sufficient to prompt consumers to choose the environmentally friendly menu. We are influenced by habits. - How to change these? STATEMENT 3: A tailor-made, practice-oriented advisory service strengthens sustainable (collective) gastronomy. The caterers benefit from further education offers, a pool of experienced, locally based advisors and are supported by the City of Zurich. PROPOSED MEASURES: Further education for chefs about food purchase and planning of menus is considered key by the group. It also recommends the adaptation of training curricula by orienting them better to sustainability and health aspects. The group states that the offer of expert advise is valuable in the transformation process, provided a) it happens at eye level (not idealistic, educational); b) clients are involved, c) the process is supported by the organization, and d) the process is based on realistic goals and approaches. Knowledge and experience transfer is considered important, not only through experts but also peer-to-peer. Some participants propose to link advisory services to certain incentives (e.g. financial, publicity etc). Overall, the group sees the need of clearer, binding targets from politics (see: city of Biel). Such change processes need to be kicked-off top-down by policy makers and management. Low margins in the gastronomy sector are seen as a main challenge for operations to take risk and do major changes. Cities should play a key role in supporting caterers in this change process. Read less

3. PUBLIC PROCUREMENT OF FOOD: STATEMENT 1: The city's catering operations achieve the target of "50% sustainable products" in their purchasing. All products meet the city's minimum standards, mainly thanks to innovative offers and good cooperation with suppliers and contractual partners. PROPOSED MEASURES: As a main barrier for consistent inclusion of sustainability criteria in the city's food procurement, the group sees the existing practices according to the procurement law. Therein, the award criteria "price" receives strong weight, and product price often out-weights other award criteria.... Read more The group recommends that price should be given less weight in submissions. Food procurements should include sustainability criteria as valid and strong award criteria. It was also proposed to separate the criteria "price" from other award criteria and to consider that label products tend to be more expensive than non-labelled food. As a procedural strategy, the group recommended to apply the 50%-rule to entire product groups instead of single products. Specifying ecological criteria in submissions through "technical specifications" is relatively straight forward and less complex than social standards. The group recommends to use this scope to steer the procurements with regard to ecological sustainability criteria. Potential suppliers should be involved in the submission process at an early stage in order to a) orient procurements better to the existing offer, b) to communicate the city's product requirements (sustainability criteria) to suppliers as early as possible so that they can react to the demand, c) to smoothen the procurement process overall. Further, the group recommends to orient food procurements (e.g. schools, health centres etc.) consistently to the nutrition pyramid. In the case of Zurich, this is already practiced. An open question was whether sufficient supply of food complying with claimed ecological standards products exists. To ensure this, close collaboration with suppliers is required up front. STATEMENT 2: In the ordering process, chefs can reliably access information on nutritional value, allergens, label, CO2 equivalence and environmental footprint. With the help of this information, they can meet the legal requirements and reduce the environmental footprint of their purchases by 10%. PROPOSED MEASURES: There are existing good examples of transparent food order platforms such as the B2B-hub www.hogashop.ch. Further, the group recommends to use guidelines as offered by Eaternity.Org, MyClimate.ch, Beelong.ch, or the Menu Sustainability Index (MNI) developed by the ZHAW and ZFV. - Further, concrete targets and recommendations should be developed for chefs (see also BAFU food recommendations). Also, simple rules should be used as guidance, e.g. one day per week without meat, a daily vegetarian meal etc. At the level of trainings of cooks and catering personnel, sustainability in food chains should be fostered. STATEMENT 3: Centralised logistics reduce the number of journeys per business to a minimum and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and costs. The urban catering businesses buy up to 10% of their goods directly from producers, who also benefit from these logistics. PROPOSED MEASURES: In the "Ernährungsforum Zürich", a working group is foreseen on this topic. The idea of centralised logistics would bring different advantages for collective gastronomy operations. There are existing platforms of which suppliers are part - What would be the added value of a new platform? In procurements, it is often difficult to involve smaller suppliers, but the positioning on sustainability standards offers an opportunity to them. A logistics platform could foster their access to submissions, e.g. through grouped offers. In the large-scale collective gastronomy sector, sales of regional products are not yet big and thus of low financial interest to businesses. Some participants claimed that public buyers, such as cities, have a leverage to increase the share of regionally traded food products, if procurements /tenders are oriented towards these. Read less