The dinner dialogue event gathered 75 participants representing key global organizations to discuss the innovations needed to shape the future of food, realize the food systems transformation, and also identify key opportunities and bottlenecks for scaling and accelerating innovation.

Cooking up Something New: Innovation to Shape the Future of Food from Slidecrew/Slidefair on Vimeo.

This event is a continuation of a series of events that began as part of the United Nations 2021 Food Systems Summit Dialogues process.

At the time of the Summit in September 2021, the Summit Dialogues process had engaged over 100,000 people, whose contributions remain readily available to be explored, referenced and synthesised on the Summit Dialogues Gateway. The Official Feedback from the Dialogues remain a valuable resource for practitioners, researchers and changemakers in food systems.

Remarks of the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the UNFSS included praise for all who had engaged with the Dialogues process, stating, “Over the last 18 months, you’ve been part of a remarkable global engagement. As the pandemic physically pushed us apart, the preparations for this Summit brought us together. Through national dialogues, governments gathered together businesses, communities and civil society to chart pathways for the future of food systems across 148 countries. Over 100,000 people came together to discuss and debate solutions – many of which are now being shared at this Summit. You injected new life into multilateralism.”

Outcomes from Food Systems Summit Dialogues were used by national governments to develop pathways to sustainable food systems within the locality in which they take place. By the time of the Summit, over 80 countries had formed national pathways for food systems transformation, which Dr Kalibata described the potential of these as, “the development of national pathways for transforming food systems will create the opportunity to reflect and respond to unique climate, economic and social circumstances facing each country.”

Based on Official Feedback Forms submitted by national Convenors, the Summit Secretariat and 4SD developed syntheses reports of the Member State Dialogues to provide an analysis of progressions and trends across countries. These reports were made available publicly to contribute to national pathway development, as well as provide insights for the different workstreams preparing for the UN Food Systems Summit: the Action Tracks, Scientific Groups and Champions as well as for other dialogues.
Read the reports here:

• Description of the inception period
• Member State Dialogues Synthesis REPORT 1
• Member State Dialogues Synthesis REPORT 2
• Member State Dialogues Synthesis REPORT 3
• Member State Dialogues Synthesis REPORT 4

For more information about the Summit and it’s follow-up, led by the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, visit https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit.

4SD was proud to partner with Food Systems for the Future to mobilise efforts in the lead up to the Conference. Notably on launching the Good Food Dialogues concept and Platform, which was established to drive national efforts to energize and empower communities around grassroots solutions to the nation’s hunger crisis and improve federal policies to more equitably address hunger, nutrition and diet-related disease needs.

The Good Food Dialogues Report

Amplifying Stories of Food Access and Affordability to Shape Equitable Food Policy, memorializes the thoughts and recommendations from a diverse group of stakeholders who are invested in reducing food insecurity and the rate of diet-related diseases in the United States.

All the themes, identified barriers, and proposed solutions in the report were  synthesized from more than 700 participants in the Good Food Dialogues (GFD) project and were submitted to the White House ahead of the Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health on September 28, 2022 to inform the policy conversations taking place in Washington D.C.

The White House Strategy

The National Strategy details actions the federal government will take to drive solutions to hunger, nutrition, and health challenges. The Biden-Harris Administration has also released a fact sheet detailing more than $8 billion in new commitments as part of this Conference’s call to action. Read the fact sheet to learn more.

In the remarks made by President Biden at the Conference, he states, “I’ve released a national strategy to meet that bold goal.  The strategy that — has three key — three key principles. First, help more Americans — I’ll say this again — help more Americans access the food that will keep their families nourished and healthy.  A lot of food deserts out there. Second, give folks the option and information they need to make healthy dietary choices. Thirdly, help more Americans be physically active.  People want to be; lots of times of times there’s no places to go to be active from where they live.”

 Watch: An introduction to the Good Food Dialogues, including opening remarks from Ambassador Ertharin Cousin, Founder and CEO Food Systems for the Future.

To learn more about the Conference and the Good Food Dialogues, follow these related links:

• White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
• Good Food Dialogues Platform
• Food Systems for the Future

Thanks to the Harvard Food Systems Initiative (HFSI) led by the Harvard University Dining Services in collaboration with Harvard Faculty and practitioners in the field, 4SD Strategic Director, Dr David Nabarro presented his view of the Future of Food Systems at an event on campus on 26 September 2022. The event was free and open to the public both in-person and through a zoom webinar. Attended by various faculty members and students from across various disciplines, the event played a key role in sharing knowledge and experience about food systems to further the mission of the HFSI education and experiential program.

The presentation was followed by a multi-stakeholder dialogue which brought together people from across the food chain – including food production, preparation and consumption. Many diverse perspectives and roles held by the participants meant discussions could lead in many directions. Nevertheless, there was one resounding consensus:  we are dissatisfied with the status quo and we can collectively “do better”.

Read the corresponding article, “Healthier options for people, planet“, where Harvard Correspondent, Gray Milkowski, learns about the HFSI from co-chairs Walter Willett and Smitha Haneef.

“I hope that HFSI will serve as a common place for knowledge exchange, knowledge generation, and community engagement.” — Smitha Haneef

Watch: The Future of Food Systems with David Nabarro.

4SD commends Smitha Haneef, Managing Director for Harvard University Dining Services, and her team for designing these events as part of the HFSI. They are creating spaces for collaboration, and enabling people, regardless of their status, to recognise and realise their role in changing the food system, for the better.

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For more information about the HSFI, visit hfsi.harvard.edu.

Follow @HUDSinfo and @4sd_info on twitter to stay up-to-date on the follow up from the events.

To assist with the preparation of the Food Systems Summit, we are very pleased to announce that 4SD will support the opportunity for people, of every country, to engage with preparations for the Summit through “Food Systems Summit Dialogues”.

In collaboration with the Special Envoy and the Secretariat for the Food Systems Summit , we have prepared a standardized approach to the convening, curation and facilitation of Food Systems Summit Dialogues.

Background

At 4SD, we recognise that there are multiple ways in which powerful and thought-provoking dialogues can be conducted. People within different communities have found many of their own ways, through dialogue, to deepen their appreciation of each other’s perspectives, to make new connections, to resolve difficult choices and to seek agreement where possible. Based on this recognition and our dedication to systems leadership to address complex issues, we are proud to have been working with the Food Systems Dialogues initiative since 2018.

These Food Systems Dialogues were established as an initiative of  five partners – EAT, Food and Land Use Coalition (FOLU), the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), World Economic Forum (WEF) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). Over 40 dialogueshave been convened, in 23 countries, across 6 continents, engaging over 2200 food systems practitioners. The dialogues have allowed us to learn how people with different backgrounds and perspectives can interact with a systems perspective.

These classic versions of dialogues about food systems are a foundation and source of inspiration for the Food Systems Summit Dialogues. Our experience in working with this initiative has helped us identify the  skills required for convening, curating and facilitating discussions, and to develop a useful dialogue format that can lead to  valuable and constructive outcomes. We have also built a strong understanding of the logistics and operational requirements of holding events in multiple circumstances.

The Food Systems Summit Dialogues Approach

The standardized approach we have developed for Food Systems Summit is based on our experience with the classic initiative. The Summit Dialogues reflect the Summit’s principles of engagement and encourage all involved to consider the Food Systems Summit as a major milestone and a call to action to:

• Listen to each other;
• Welcome diverse perspectives;
• Seek out new connections;
• Explore both synergy and divergence;
• Work together to identify promising options;
• Debate their potential impact; and,
• Over time, shape pathways and commitments for action towards food systems that will be equitable and sustainable by 2030.

The involvement of different stakeholder groups in the Food Systems Summit Dialogues is critical because our food systems touch every aspect of human existence. The health of our food systems profoundly affects the health of our bodies, as well as the health of our environment, our economies and our cultures.

Dialogues will be convened at three levels: Global Summit Dialogues will be convened alongside key global events, Member State Dialogues will be convened by national authorities, and Independent Dialogues will be led by self-appointed Convenors who can be individuals or organizations independent of national authorities who want to formally connect with the Summit through this process. Each Dialogue will be carefully curated and facilitated to encourage exploration, alignment and joint action.

The Food Systems Summit Dialogues are an exceptional opportunity for all people to contribute to shaping the pathways that will lead to sustainable food systems everywhere and indicate how they will contribute to making this vision a reality for all.

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A website dedicated to the Food Systems Summit Dialogues launched on World Food Day, 16 October 2020. Visit summitdialogues.org.

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For more information about the Summit, visit https://www.un.org/en/food-systems-summit

For more information about the classic Food Systems Dialogue initiative, visit https://foodsystemsdialogues.org/