Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

FAIR FOOD PRICES FOR ALL The conversation in this group can be summarised in the following points: • Consumer rights also imply responsibility. In the EU, 88 million tonnes of food waste are generally generated each year, with associated costs estimated at one hundred and forty-three billion euros. • It is necessary to reduce the growing imbalance between the developed world where food is too cheap and the developing world where food is still too expensive. • Healthy food is a human right issue. Too often quality and nutrient food is expensive and nutritionally poor food is cheap, which ... Read moreis a real threat to the health of our children globally. • Educating our consumers could be the key. Currently, 55% of the world's population lives in urban areas. This percentage is expected to grow to 68% by 2050. Educating consumers about the cost of producing good food in a sustainable way is vital. • Politicians and legislators need to be informed about the important role of ensuring sustainable solutions for future food security. • The roles of civil society and the private sector need to be clearly defined and actors identified and involved. • We need to understand outcomes, which are often simply driven by price. We should have meaningful conversations about value, which includes quality and price. • We should focus on inclusivity, doing things better in the future and rewarding outstanding sustainable practices to raise the bar for everyone. • We don't reinvent the wheel. We work to highlight established and scientifically proven best practices and celebrate them more in our communications. Read less

FOOD STANDARDS AND TRADE The participants of this group agreed on the difficulty of addressing this issue in such a short time. One of the main challenges arises from the diversity of worldwide standards, depending on the geographical area of application. It is therefore cumbersome to apply and implement standards that are fair, unless they are inclusive of socio-economic factors. The risk here is to exclude producers in middle and low-income countries from the most profitable markets. so the emphasis here was on a fair balance between standards that must be universal and solutions that must b... Read moree local. Surely bringing socio-economic factors into the conversation is a must in order to arrive at standards that are win-win, eventually leading to an international codex. Read less

CONSUMER INFORMATION A general consensus was reported on the importance of increasing awareness and information among consumers, who are too often victims of both political and commercial biases. The focus of the discussion, therefore, was on the proper use and structure of labels. Labels cannot be the solution. They often report information in a partial or extremely superficial way, failing to reflect the complexity of certain realities such as the issue of sustainability. A feasible solution would be to develop technologies that support both producers and consumers, such as QR codes. In addi... Read moretion, the abundance of commercial and voluntary standards further increases consumer confusion. Finally, the role of governments in this topic was addressed. Education on these issues must be disseminated and promoted from an early age. The issues range from consumer empowerment, to real basic education about food, nutrition, sustainability, to give consumers a chance to truly have an understanding of what they are looking for. In addition to this, it is also important to establish a basic standard to mitigate some of the marketing claims, which are driven by the interest of commercial gain and not necessarily by any sort of sustainability outcome. Consumers desire to be empowered to navigate between the various claims. While marketing and advertising will always exist, people need to be equipped with the right tools to avoid and minimize the risk of greenwashing. Read less

This last dialogue aimed to identify mutually beneficial solutions for food systems transformation, promoting a systemic approach to sustainable food systems through closer collaboration between producers and consumers, the first and last ring of the food value chain. In the course of the discussion and debate, a number of points of particular importance to both sides emerged. The main question in the dialogue concerned how this alliance could provide a solid foundation to safeguard the rights and interests of the two parties. Farmers, on one side, vehemently claimed their urgency to be recogn... Read moreized as entrepreneurs and to make their activity a viable and profitable business. Consumers, on the other hand, have stressed their right to a transparent value chain. The trait d'union in these two complaints lies in the redistribution of risk and reward throughout the value chain. The ambition is to reduce social costs, to respect the environment and to strongly characterize the territory. Otherwise, we would continue promoting a model that adversely affects the balance along the food value chain, offloading the lost profit onto the weaker parties and producing misinformation for consumers. One of the advanced proposals, for example, concerns a virtuous alliance with large-scale distribution and consumers, which does not penalize producers but enhances their work and their efforts to continue guaranteeing excellence. Once again, the importance of awareness and access to information was stressed, underlining the enormous power consumers have and the ability to influence both what to produce and how it should be produced. For this reason, it is necessary to understand the role that consumers play in the food system. Only in this way will it be possible to reach a level of trust whereby producers better understand the needs of consumers and so that consumers feel more comfortable with all the products that are being produced. The final conclusion here is the will to build and nurture a community populated by these two parties and to make it real. Read less

This dialogue is the latest of a series of meetings between farmers and consumers culminating in the consolidation of a long alliance. Participants were divided into 4 break up sessions, each tackling a different topic identified during the first two dialogues as key areas in which change is needed for farmers and consumers. The different groups were asked to determine what specific solutions the Summit should deliver and what actions are needed from different stakeholders to facilitate this transformation. One round of break up sessions was organized under the following themes: 1) Consumer in... Read moreformation 2) Food standards and trade 3) Fair food prices for all 4) Fairer share of value in the food chain Each discussion that took place in the various break-up sessions was reported back to the plenary by a representative from each of the two sides. At the end of this discussion, in the plenary session, strategies and visions were developed with respect to future steps that could be leveraged through the process. Read less

None during the dialogue

- To consume sustainably and to develop healthy, inclusive and sustainable food systems requires the interplay of multiple agents and actors. Consumers, producers, business institutions, policies, and government leaders all need to come together and work towards a shared vision of the future - Awareness and education are critical pieces. Each individual needs to be able to think critically in order to know how we should move forward and consume sustainably. - Paying for a fair price helps everyone. By giving farmers a decent income, we encourage them to plant better and ensure everyone is fed.... Read more By ensuring that food isn't dirt cheap we as consumers can also put more value into the food that we eat. - Tools and enables are usually available, however these are not made simple enough for the people who need it most to avail of it. For example, agriculture loans in the Philippines are available at 0% interest but require farmers, who on average only go to school until the 4th grade, to complete complex business proposals and access online registration forms. - Governments play a major role in enabling innovation and change and developing industries within a country. Getting the young people to exercise their right to vote will ultimately lead to electing capable and content people in government which with steer us all towards better food systems. - Successful initiatives need to be catered to the local context. Regionalization is key in both in winning in the alternative protein segment and in providing the right equipment to the farmers. - We need to correct the language around produce and agriculture in the Philippines. There are a lot of metaphors using farming-related concepts which refer to unfavorable situations/poor Read less

Overview of the different actors of food systems in the Philippines and a discussion of high-potential solutions to major food system problems