The Food Systems Pre-Summit which took place this week is a pre-event of the UN Food Systems Summit, which takes place at the UN headquarters in September this year. Together with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation and the European Alliance for Plant Based Foods (EAPF), ProVeg International organised two affiliated sessions at the Pre-Summit. Both sessions were well attended, which shows the growing interest in more resilient food systems.
Food security a key focus area of ProVeg International’s UN activities
ProVeg International has been active in the area of food security and climate change for several years. In 2020, we organised a series of webinars around food security and climate change in partnership with the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, the UN Environment Programme, the Climate Technology Centre and Network of the UN, and the World Food Programme. Unfortunately, the situation has deteriorated since then, with the world facing new challenges such as COVID19. As such, the Food Systems Pre-Summit was a good occasion to shine light on our broken food system and establish workable pathways towards resilience.
You can watch a recording of our affiliate session ‘Climate Change, Food Security and COVID19: Challenges and Opportunities’ here. The session was moderated by Raphael Podselver and Juliette Tronchon of ProVeg International and featured talks by Federica Matteoli from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Denise Tsai from the Buddhist Tzu-Chi Foundation, and Loretta Hieber-Girardet from the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
From the UN Food Systems Summit to COP26
ProVeg International is not only a big player in the food industry sector, but is also increasingly making its mark in the political arena. In the first half of 2021, we participated in numerous political processes.
Plant-based innovation offers a game-changing solution
Three years have passed since ProVeg International opened the very first plant-based startup incubator in Europe. Since then, plant-based alternatives have boomed and been integrated into the mainstream and are now purchased by millions of consumers. With a lower GHG footprint and many co-benefits from a health perspective, plant-based innovations are also now considered a key part of the solution landscape by scientists, nutritionists, and climate-experts. ProVeg’s affiliate session on day three of the Food Systems Pre-Summit explored many pathways to a fairer and more sustainable food system, from plant-based alternatives to cellular agriculture, innovation challenges, and community-empowerment projects.
You can watch the recording of our affiliate session ‘Diet Change or Climate Change? Unlocking the Potential of Plant-based Innovation’ here. The session was moderated by Raphael Podselver and included presentations by Silvia Alunni from the EAPF, Tiffany Tu from the Buddhist Tzu Chi Foundation, Shirley Lu who represented ProVeg Asia, Cecilia McAleavy (Oatly), Dr Jeannette Fielding (Upfield), Absie Pantshwa (Mzansi Meat), and Noga Kronfeld-Schor from Israel’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.
ProVeg International will continue to shape the policy debate around food systems, both at the UN Food Systems Summit in September, and at COP26 in Glasgow. You can find more information about the Diet Change Not Climate Change campaign here.
