21.12.2020—07.01.2021

Future Food Cultures

Konferenz, Wissenschaft, Online

H18:30
Series: Dispute TALKS

Dates
21.12.2020
07.01.2021
Location
Online
Category
Konferenz, Wissenschaft
Information

H18:30
Series: Dispute TALKS

Changing Patterns of Food Consumption Leading the Way to a Sustainable Future

In view of the 2021 Food Systems Summit, the Istituto Svizzero invites, in collaboration with Bites of Transfoodmation, to the Dispute TALKS, offering a platform of exchange and reflection about the future of food consumption and production.

What food do we imagine will garnish our tables in the future? What actions do we have to take now to guarantee that we eat sustainably tomorrow? Major transformations are on the horizon, long-lasting trends such as organic consumption and the slow food movement have branched out into a diversity of innovative approaches and offerings. Underneath current trends we discover a desire to change driven by the shared understanding that nutrition serves not just the replenishment of human bodies. Our diets, in fact, blend into a complex system of behavioral patterns and cultural practices that range from the common sharing of meals, different culinary traditions and regional variations to annual festivities and evocative rituals. Concurrently, there is a growing sense of humans’ impact on the planet, particularly with regard to climate change and the potential effects it will have on a global scale. Furthermore, quality food has been singled out as a key factor in the improvement of global health standards and individual wellbeing. Innovators and policymakers try to tackle these issues from various angles with different measures and pioneering spirit. Yet, what leverage do we as consumers have? What can the individual person contribute to shaping the future of food systems?

Bites of Transfoodmation is an initiative that brings together young motivated innovators that are ready to take, or have already taken, a leap into the future of food systems. Through their concrete experiences, they will compare different paths and look for common denominators indicating the way towards the future of food systems. The challenge will be to translate these bites of future into words in the form of a Transfoodmation manifesto and some lines of action. The ultimate goals are to create a movement of change and impact the outcome of the 2021 Food System Summit.
For further information.

 

Programme

H18:30 – Welcome: Joëlle Comé, Director, Istituto Svizzero

H18.40 – Opening statements: Olav Kjørven, EAT Foundation, and Christian Bärtsch, Essento

H19.00 – Moderated discussion with Nadine Jürgensen

Biographies

Olav Kjørven is Chief Strategic Officer of EAT, the science based global platform for food system transformation. In this role he is part of EAT’s Senior Leadership team and provides strategic oversight to EAT’s policy work, leads engagement on global policy arenas, and guides EAT’s science and knowledge initiatives for maximum impact on food systems policies and practices. Olav’s is widely recognized as a senior leader in sustainable development spanning 25 years and has previously been Assistant Secretary General and Director of Development Policy at UNDP as well as Director of UNICEF’s Division for Public Partnerships. 

Christian Bärtsch is the founder and CEO of Essento, a Swiss company developing, producing, and marketing delicacies made from edible insects. He serves as an Executive Committee member of IPIFF, based in Brussels, an advocacy organisation for insects in food and feed. Christian is passionate about improving lives through sustainable innovations in the food sector. He has a background in Economics from the University of St. Gallen, Lausanne and Universidad de los Andes, Bogotá. Christian is based in Zurich, Switzerland.

Nadine Jürgensen studied law at the universities of Fribourg, ESADE Barcelona and Lucerne. After her studies, she completed her training as a lawyer at a commercial law firm in Zurich and as a clerk at the courts of Glarus. After being admitted to the bar, she wrote for the NZZ and presented various WebTV formats. Nadine Jürgensen has been a freelance journalist and presenter since 2016 and has been a member of the independent appeal body for radio and television since 2018.