On September 20 of Climate Week NYC, Food Tank partnered with the Rockefeller Foundation, WWF, and The Global Alliance for the Future of Food to bring us Food Day 2023. The event offered a global overview of the connections between food and agriculture, climate, nature, health, and finance, and also explored the pathways for a “sustainable, equitable, and inclusive” food system in the future. Change-makers from across the globe gathered to help “raise the ambition” of food systems transformation, and to reinforce the importance of development action plans and localised solutions prior to COP28, an international climate discussion hosted by the United Nations.

“There is no way to limit global warming to 1.5°C without transforming food systems from farm to fork and bait to plate. It’s time to raise the ambition for food and climate.”

Food Day was a highly interactive event with attendees engaging in Action Labs to discuss strategies to maximise impact in the shortest time and demonstrate the potential of food systems as a solution to our planet’s climate and nature crises. Through various panels and discussions, Food Day also connected a diverse group of senior leaders, helping initiate the development of “context specific strategies that can close the implementation gap.”

It is essential that food systems transformation is focused on the local context, people, and geography. In a session on ‘upholding inclusive and place-based innovation and investment, a panel of climate and agricultural leaders spoke with Senior Vice President at WWF, Melissa D Ho, to explore suitable investment opportunities for local contexts, that lead to “sustained impact with benefits for people, planet, and economy.” Amongst this panel was President of the International Fund of Agricultural Development (IFAD), Alvaro Lario. Lario shared IFAD’s vision for future development, noting that investing in small-scale producers and rural communities, is the most cost-effective strategy to improve food security and build inclusive food systems. Within the discussion, we also heard from Andy Jarvis, Director for the Future of Food at Bezos Earth Fund, and Rohini Chaturvedi, Strategy Lead at Forests People Climate.

The following session explored the journey to COP28 and how we can pave the way for greater government leadership. The COP28 team has released its food and agriculture agenda for the Global Climate Summit in December, encouraging nations to “include emissions from food systems in their climate commitments,” and sign a new declaration on food systems and agriculture. During the session, we briefly heard from Head of Adaption, Recovery and Humanitarian Response at COP28, Kristofer Hamel, who noted that the COP28 agenda recognizes that it is essential to “bring the entire community along” when you are addressing food systems. Following this we heard a discussion between H.E. Secretary of Agriculture, Tom Vilsack, and President of The Rockefeller Foundation, Rajiv Shah. The fireside chat highlighted the progress of the United States agricultural system and called for action from other nations to “join the movement for food systems as an essential lever for delivering on the Paris Declaration and the SDGs.”

Tom Vilsack speaking on the transformation of agriculture – “It is never transforming fast enough given the nature of the challenge that we face with climate change. There is a growing recognition of agriculture and farmers globally that they need to be seizing the opportunity. In the livestock area we are beginning to see an effort to understand there is a problem, a serious problem, and livestock is obviously a greater generator of that, and that’s where we are seeing innovation with feed additives. We are seeing innovation in terms of capturing and converting methane. I learned not too long ago that methane could potentially replace water in the development of concrete. I mean there is just an unlimited amount of opportunities here. The key here is to make it easy for farmers to know exactly what they need to do and then to provide them with incentives, and to market incentives, not just government incentives, but incentives for doing the right thing. I think if farmers see the economic opportunity, if they feel that they are being asked to be a partner as opposed to being forced to do something, we will see greater adoption and an acceleration of adoption.”

To finish the morning session, New York Times writer, Julia Moskin, spoke with a group of climate advocates, including Rise and Root Farm co-owner, Karen Washington, Indigenous Youth Leader, Erika Xananine Calvillo Ramirez, and Deputy Director of FARN, Ana Di Pangracio, on the ways equity and inclusion are central to raising ambitions of food system transformations. While we have seen a greater focus on “nutrition, biodiversity, climate, and food production within our food systems,” there is still very little focus on equity and inclusion. Moskin’s panel, “rich with indigenous wisdom, youth purpose, and frontline experience,” were able to offer invaluable guidance on how we can amend these systems. Imagining what it would look like to place equity and inclusion at the centre of the food systems we aim to transform.

A highlight of the panel was Washington’s discussion on the structural inequalities in our food system and her argument that “people of colour are denied access to nutritious and affordable food, farmland, and business opportunities” in the food system. Washington has spent decades promoting urban farming in New York City as a way for all people in the community to access “fresh, locally grown food.” She co-founded the Black Farmer Fund and Black Urban Growers, a volunteer organization aiming to build community support in urban and rural settings, and in 2014 she started Rise and Root Farm, a farm committed to social justice.

Karen Washington – “Urban farming is not going to replace raw farming, but what urban farming can do is educate people about eating well, educate people about the environment, and educate people that there is a right to have food. That’s the platform I started as a community gardener with a 10 by 15 plot in the Bronx. Now I am the owner of 3 to 5 acres of farmland. I think urban farming is an important resource to educate communities of colour on the importance of food systems and their agency and power to change and shift these systems.”

“We can’t sit and talk about climate change and food systems when the people who are affected are not in the room.”

Overall, Food Day was a resounding call to action. Climate change is a direct threat to global food security, with around 30% of human-driven emissions coming from agriculture and food systems. Bringing together experts from around the world, Food Day highlighted how the transformation of these systems can be a part of the solution.

Article + Tearsheets by Mia Fyson, Contributor & Graphic Design Intern, PhotoBook Magazine

Climate Week NYC: Food Day at the UN General Assembly: Raising the Ambition on Implementation