The United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) Secretariat launched a synthesis report with game-changing ideas and actions that will be submitted to member states to enhance the transition to sustainable food systems. The proposals stem from more than 600 dialogues and this report includes important additions from WUWM’s four regional dialogues that were submitted to the UN.
The ideas put forward in the report will be used as a guiding resource for concrete actions and follow-ups for the United Nations Food Systems Summit that will take place in September 2021. The synthesizers have included major recommendations discussed during our independent dialogues in several areas of the report.
Here are some of our inclusions in the UN report with direct references to WUWM independent dialogues:
- “The need to promote widespread diverse “foodscapes”: Cities should ensure that their citizens are in close proximity to a diverse availability of food commerce. Wholesale markets should promote this ideal and be empowered to supply all communities with fresh food. An emphasis was placed on the leadership role that European wholesale markets can play in transforming food systems given their role as linkage of all the major stakeholders of the fresh food chain (producers, logisticians, wholesalers, sellers, retail markets, municipalities, local and national authorities, food banks, etc.)” (page 45)
- “Innovation and advancement are key to develop sustainable food systems. For example, to improve the linkages, efficiency, and transparency between markets, producers, and consumers, digital innovations need to be supported (page 34).
- There is a need to encourage transparency and traceability. It is important to provide transparent, voluntary product information to consumers (e.g. through digital means) and foster responsible food marketing and advertising practices by setting standards, certification and labels (page 57)
- Governments should give incentives to promote food donation when possible and foster the link between wholesalers and associations ( page 44)
Please find the entire report here.
We want to thank everyone again for your participation in our independent dialogues!
