21 January 2016
Chefs Call for Support to Local Farmers
story highlights

The chef-owners of the twice-named world's best restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca restaurant in Girona, Spain, held an open dialogue with representatives of the food, nutrition, and development industry, focused on improving the food industry and agricultural practices to protect the environment while creating jobs.

Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, Mitchell Davis of the James Beard Foundation, and others discussed improved practices in the production, distribution and consumption of food for: advancing sustainable techniques; reducing food waste through affordable preparation and conservation; supporting local food sourcing; and minimizing environmental damage.

sdgf18 January 2016: The chef-owners of the twice-named world’s best restaurant, El Celler de Can Roca restaurant in Girona, Spain, held an open dialogue with representatives of the food, nutrition, and development industry, focused on improving the food industry and agricultural practices to protect the environment while creating jobs. Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca, Mitchell Davis of the James Beard Foundation, and others discussed improved practices in the production, distribution and consumption of food for: advancing sustainable techniques; reducing food waste through affordable preparation and conservation; supporting local food sourcing; and minimizing environmental damage.

The dialogue ‘Food and Sustainable Development’ was organized by the Sustainable Development Goals Fund (SDG-F) on 18 January 2016, in New York, US.

The Roca brothers are UN Development Programme (UNDP) Goodwill Ambassadors working with the SDG-F to generate support for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including by establishing a network of training centers, which will pilot in Africa, aimed at improving market conditions for farmers and small businesses, creating new jobs, promoting gender equality, and providing skills training.

Joseph Roca observed that, in only one generation, the post-industrial generation, people have lost contact with the land. He suggested that if youth are interested in the food they eat, they will become interested also in the way it is produced. Joan Roca said that, as chefs, they can provide knowledge that can be useful for larger communities, advocating for greater food security and fighting malnutrition. Jordi Roca presented initiatives that promote this vision among the cooks community, the wider public, and youth, including books for children.

Davis spoke about food as a nexus of society and culture, business and environment. He cited the need to introduce specific cultural flavors in rations for refugees.

Representatives of UN agencies and civil society discussed: policies that can ensure more sustainable and healthier food systems by supporting family farming through facilitating access to markets, technology, and seeds; the need for the economic growth to be inclusive in order to address food insecurity; the relation between technology and tradition; and food waste. [SDG-F Website] [UNDP Press Release] [Dialogue Webcast][IISD RS Sources]


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