20 September 2016: A high-level event on nutritional challenges in urban settings illuminated challenges with urban food systems, and linkages with racial and economic injustice, advertising, climate change, and rural communities. Johan Rockström, Executive Director of the Stockholm Resilience Centre, who moderated the panel discussion during the event, said sustainable urban food systems are a sine qua non for the 2030 Agenda, and without them the world will not be able to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The event, titled ‘Urban Food Systems: The Nutrition Challenge,’ took place on 20 September 2016, in New York, US, on the sidelines of the 71st UN General Assembly (UNGA). It was hosted by the EAT Foundation in collaboration with Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event was the EAT Foundation’s third annual “EATx UNGA” featuring speakers from government, academia, the private sector, the UN, and civil society.

David Nabarro, UN Special Adviser on 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said current food systems don’t deliver for people, smallholder farmers or consumers, and are “not very good for our planet,” and called for a “food systems revolution” with vulnerable urban residents at the center. Gunhild Stordalen, EAT Foundation founder and president, described the “epidemic” of modern urban diets, noting that many people who move to cities end up obese and malnourished “by default.”

In opening remarks, Børge Brende, Norway’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, noted that climate change will reduce food production in many parts of the world, which could affect cities’ ability to feed millions of newcomers. He advocated three actions: increase food production; better distribute the food that is produced; and increase awareness about malnutrition’s effects, both on health and on national economies.

Vytenis Andriukaitis, EU Commissioner of Health and Food Safety, said it is “ethically unacceptable and economically scandalous” that each year 88 million tonnes of food are wasted in the EU and a third of all food produced globally is wasted. He announced that in 2017, the EU will release a platform for action on food loss and waste prevention. He also lamented that food with sugar and fat is cheap, widely available, and aggressively advertised, including in schools.

Dagfinn Høybråten, Secretary General of the Nordic Council of Ministers, highlighted new Nordic dietary guidelines, which Rockström called “the world’s best dietary guidelines, period,” and are the first dietary guidelines to connect sustainability with health. Høybråten said a common Nordic monitoring system shows who is complying with the new dietary guidelines, and allows policy makers to adjust policies accordingly.

In the panel discussion, Mark Watts, Executive Director of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, explained that in an urban context, the same steps to deliver on the Paris Agreement can help achieve the SDGs, specifically related to food consumption and methane emissions. Watts called on city governments to: use the power of procurement to require organic, sustainable food; use planning and transportation powers to make it easy for local, sustainable and organic food to get to market; and support urban agriculture.

Feike Sijbesma, CEO of Royal DSM, Netherlands, and Co-Chair of Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Business Network Advisory Group, said banning hunger is “our next step as a civilization.” He said that businesses who work to make healthy food available and affordable may not profit in the short-term, but “none of us can be successful in a world that fails.” He stressed that it is better for a business to “future-proof” itself by making positive changes before regulations require it.

Maria Helena Semedo, Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), pointed out that expanding urban areas can encroach on land that could help feed the growing population. She suggested that urban planning involve not just infrastructure but also food production and linkages with rural areas. Semedo announced that the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, which enables municipalities around the world to work together on sustainable food policies, will have its first meeting on 14 October 2016.

“I’m angry that we have hunger and poverty,” said Karen Washington, Rise and Root Farm. She said lack of access to healthy food does not make a neighborhood a “food desert,” but rather reflects “food apartheid,” and underscored the need to talk about race in the context of food. Washington called on the private and public sectors to come together and share resources. [IISD RS Meeting Coverage] [EATx UNGA 2016 Website]