The food paradoxes of our time, the connections between climate change, migration and food, and the new index of the most sustainable countries in terms of nutrition: these are the themes of the eighth International Forum on Food and Nutrition promoted by Bcfn.
Food insecurity is one of the main reasons why populations leave their homelands. This will be one of the crucial issues addressed during the eighth International Forum on Food and Nutrition of the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition Foundation (Bcfn), scheduled for 4 and 5 December at the Pirelli Hangar Bicocca in Milan. The topic is all the more pertinent given that it coincides with the one chosen by the Fao for World Food Day 2017 (16 October): "Change the future of migration. Invest in food security and rural development".
The geopolitical research firm MacroGeo, chaired by Lucio Caracciolo, was commissioned by Bcfn to analyse the phenomenon of migration in the Euro-Mediterranean area in relation to food and food systems. The press presentation of the December forum programme provided an opportunity for him, as well as for the other speakers taking part in the debate, to preview some interesting findings from the new studies.
MacroGeo's analyses will show how the tropical areas affected by climate change overlap with the regions of the world where the greatest problems linked to the hunger emergency are concentrated, and which also intersect with the migration issue: namely conflicts, political instability, rapid population growth and terrorism. "When Bcfn asked us to work on the link between migration and food I accepted with enthusiasm, because it is a fundamental and still underestimated topic," explained Lucio Caracciolo, presenting the research in Milan. "The data just published by the United Nations World Food Programme show that in the twenty-five-year period 1990–2015, every percentage point increase in food insecurity forced 1.9 per cent of the population (per thousand inhabitants) to migrate."
"According to United Nations data," Caracciolo continues, "we have 244 million migrants in the world (2015 figures) and 65 million refugees. This means that five per cent of humanity is on the move."
Focusing on the Mediterranean area, Southern Europe and Italy, the MacroGeo study will highlight that "Climate change entails considerable consequences for agriculture in these regions, connected to desertification, the crisis affecting rainforests and rising sea levels. These are factors with a strong geopolitical impact, but also on food availability." Also under scrutiny is the issue of the water crisis, "fundamental in immediate terms for nutrition, but also for projects linked to agriculture," in the words of the MacroGeo president.
Particularly interesting will be the part of the research that considers the overall impact that newcomers have in Europe and Italy and the capacity to integrate diverse food cultures as well. This last aspect is far from secondary, since it is a "strong marker of identity, often tied to religious customs and which unfortunately sometimes becomes a cause of stigmatisation." It will therefore be essential "to succeed in grasping the enrichment that food integration and its consequent impact on industry could bring about."
Supported by the World Food Programme (the most important humanitarian organisation whose fundamental mission is to combat hunger at a global level), the eighth Bcfn International Forum on Food and Nutrition will see Guido Barilla and Slow Food founder Carlin Petrini discuss the "food system" and how to reconcile good eating habits with a balanced diet. There will also be many international guests: from singer and activist Bob Geldof to the economist who inspired Pope Francis, Jeffrey Sachs.
Starting from the greatest of food paradoxes — namely the one in which 2.1 billion people on one side suffer from obesity while 815 million on the other go hungry — this event becomes an opportunity to share scientific data, proposals and best practices useful for achieving the UN Agenda 2030 Sustainable Development Goals and thereby rethinking the global food system.
In this perspective, the Food Sustainability Index project continues — the index that tells us where food is "truly good," launched last year by Fondazione Bcfn and The Economist Intelligence Unit (Eiu) to produce the first global mapping of the most sustainable countries in terms of nutrition. The study is conducted on the basis of a number of indicators relating to food waste, sustainable farming practices and nutritional challenges (the figure on the number of people per fast-food outlet is a notable one) across different countries.
The new 2017 edition adds nine more countries to the twenty-five already considered, which represented 85 per cent of global GDP and two thirds of the world's population. "The new entries are Spain, Morocco, Greece, Portugal, Tunisia, Lebanon, Jordan, as well as Sweden and Hungary," explains Irene Mia, Global Editorial Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit, which compiled the index with Bcfn. "We wanted to add new Mediterranean countries in order to analyse the particularly interesting challenges concerning this area, linked to climate change, water resources, fish stocks and migration. Sweden and Hungary were included instead for their importance in Europe and their size."
The integrated indicators will cover, among others: "The presence of sugars and saturated fats in the diet, access to water sources and the percentage of newborns exclusively breastfed." As regards the ranking, there will be positive news for Italy (which came sixth in last year's classification), already a virtuous performer on the sustainable agriculture front and showing promise when it comes to food waste policies." Among the newly analysed countries, "Spain caused something of a surprise, wasting less than us, for example."
The media play a fundamental role in keeping public opinion, policymakers and institutions focused on the issues of hunger and nutrition. This is why Bcfn has decided to launch the first Food Sustainability Media Award, a journalism prize dedicated to stories, videos and photographs that have documented the paradoxes of the food system. Almost five hundred entries were submitted from seventy-two countries. Among the most represented: the USA, Italy, the United Kingdom and India; among the surprises: Togo, South Korea, Nigeria and Iraq.
From 24 October it will be possible to find out who the finalists are and cast a vote on Bcfn's dedicated page. The entry receiving the most votes will receive the Best of the Web prize. For the official rankings, however, one will have to wait until the forum on 4 and 5 December.
