Discussing food systems and food policy solutions in Brussels

FAO’s Food Systems and Food Safety Division Director Corinna Hawkes visited Brussels for a round of meetings and to participate at a side-event titled “Urban food policies for a sustainable and just future” at the Brussels Urban Summit 2023 organized by Eurocities.

During her intervention at the event, Hawkes presented the current status of agrifood systems and emphasized how intervening in these systems can provide solutions to numerous challenges the world is facing today in relation to the climate and biodiversity crises. She highlighted the importance of inclusiveness and resilience in transforming agrifood systems, stating that cities play a crucial role and should be seen as part of international efforts in this transformation. 
Discussing trends and challenges, Hawkes explained that an increasing number of cities are taking a systems approach and are developing an urban food action plan, that encompasses the entire agrifood system. Additionally, cities are placing greater focus on resilience as their understanding of risks improves. To strengthen the efforts at city level, the involvement of national governments is essential to ensure policy coherence.

Marta Messa, Secretary General of Slow Food, Aziza Akhmouch, Head of Division Cities, Urban Policies and Sustainable Development at OECD and Anisa Ruseti, deputy mayor of Tirana, were among the speakers. Anja De Cunto, Head of food at Eurocities, moderated the discussion. 

During her two-day visit to Brussels, Hawkes also exchanged on the urban food agenda and the urban food system coalition in two roundtable discussions with various civil society representatives from ICLEI, Rikolto, ECDPM and Eurocities. She also met Joke Schauvlieghe, the Rapporteur of the EU Committee of the Region for the recently adopted opinion on the Legislative Framework on Sustainable Food Systems (FSFS). She also held bilateral meetings with several directors, heads of unit, and other experts from the European Commission. The topics of discussion included the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit +2 Stocktaking Moment, the food safety thematic under the One Health approach, FAO’s Food Safety Strategy Implementation, and the Farm to Fork Strategy, with a focus on the FSFS.

You can read more about the Organization’s work on Food Systems here and on the Urban Food Agenda here. For more info on the Urban Food Systems Coalition, click here. 

You can read more on the One Health approach here. While more information on the UNFSS is here and on the upcoming Stocktaking Moment here.