The Future of Food

The virtual ‘Future of Food’ Conference was organized by EIT Food gathering more than 350 delegates, including EU policymakers and other key stakeholders active in agrifood research, innovation and education, along the whole food value chain. The event discussed future priorities in food innovation and policy, looking at these in the broader context of the EU Farm to Fork Strategy and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

FAO Chief Economist Máximo Torero Cullen stressed the importance of innovation and research in achieving a world without hunger or malnutrition. “Currently, almost 690 million people in the world are undernourished and around 30 percent of the world’s food produced is lost or wasted,” he noted. Torero Cullen explained how the COVID-19 pandemic and the unprecedented loss of biodiversity have jeopardized the ability of the planet to support current dietary and lifestyle habits and that, to achieve a world without hunger and poverty, we need to transform our food systems now.

The FAO economist stressed the crucial role of the EU Green Deal, the EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies and other initiatives as crucial elements of the EU's recovery plan post COVID-19, but also to ensure the transition towards sustainable, green and inclusive agrifood systems. He concluded by noting that today’s reality should not be seen as a constraint, but rather as an opportunity to reinvent our world, to scale up innovation and research capacities and tools and create new rules for the growth, trade, consumption and distribution of food, to support our farmers and food producers.

Participants discussed a range of related issues, such as famer education, food waste prevention sustainable food labelling, and ways to help the agrifood sector support the recovery of the European economy, while setting in on a more sustainable track.