Forbes reports looks at how cities can support sustainable food systems, saying municipalities, with their close connections to residents, local businesses and civil society organisations, are key to implementing sustainable development goals (SDGs) as well as tackling climate change from a food perspective.
Urban food policies are an effective tool to initiate the sustainable transition of food systems. When the Italian city of Milan hosted the EXPO 2015 under the theme “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life,” the mayor proposed to keep those efforts going for longer than just the duration of the event, creating a pact among cities. The Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) represents a commitment of mayors around the world who consider food as an entry point for urban population’s sustainable development. The MUFPP constitutes a platform for spurring innovation, knowledge sharing and cooperation among cities.
Around 370 different best-practices across the world have been collected and replicated among participants so far on topics such as urban agriculture, food banks, increasing cities’ share of organic food procurement or fair trade products, promoting shorter supply chains, reducing cities’s food waste and diminishing meat consumption in public kitchens.
Further reading:
- Investors seed indoor farms to protect food supplies
- Inside food’s new Silicon Valley
- “It’s a place of healing”: the growth of US food forests
