Food Future Foundation gives solutions for sustainable food systems

food-future-foundation-gives-solutions-for-sustainable-food-systems

FFF is developing Food Vision Report 2030, aligned with the UN Food Systems Summit

The Food Future Foundation (FFF) recently organised their second anniversary programme to celebrate the occasion of World Food Day, i.e celebrated on October 16, 2021. With the mission to transform food system in India the programme focussed on various solutions to improve the country’s malnutrition and nutritious status.

Some of the speakers included Dr Lawrence Haddad, Executive Director, GAIN (World Food Prize winner); Vijay Kumar Thallam, Advisor to Government of Andhra Pradesh for Agriculture & Cooperation; Rita Teaotia, Chairperson, Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), Pawan Aggarwal, Former CEO, FSSAI, Bishow Parajuli, World Food Programme (WFP) India Representative and Country Director, amongst others.

While delivering the welcome address Pawan Aggarwal said, “The theme for this year, ‘Our actions are our future- Better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life’, brings together various elements of the food system, like the UN Food System Summit. The summit recognised that the interconnected nature of the issues is very important to get all the pieces of the food system right and also to achieve UN sustainable development goals.”

He further added, “The Food Future Foundation has been following the global developments, and its activities have been aligned with the summit activities.”

Commenting on the risk factors associated with improving the country’s malnutrition and nutritious status , Dr Lawrence said, “There are many risk factors that drive the global burden of diseases when you combine mortality and mobility rate. According to 2019 data, ten out of six factors are diet related, wherein for males it is tobacco. Looking into India, the factors are similar, for year 2009-2019. Malnutrition is the top most risk factor for the burden of disease in India.”

Adding his insights on making the food system more nutritious, he said, “There are at least 30-40 drivers for change to affect the food system. One of the factors is the power of legislation, which is a stronger way of scaling up positive actions, like FSSAI mulling to make fortification of edible oil with Vitamin A, D mandatory.”

He concluded by suggesting, “We have to look at production, supply, affordability and safety for overall food system to work properly.”

Commenting on the state of malnutrition, Chief Guest Rita Teaotia said, “Malnutrition has been a challenge for us and climate change and COVID-19 has worsened the situation here. To tackle this, we are making some progress with the help of government schemes like Public Distribution System and various other schemes, and also using advancements in agriculture technology.”

Aligned with the UN Food Systems Summit, the Food Future Foundation is developing the ‘Food Vision 2030’ report. This is done collaboratively through the Coalition of Partners for Food System Transformation in India. The report is intended to create a shared vision for food system transformation in India. It has considered multiple perspectives from many stakeholders and linkages amongst various areas.

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