Jan. 10, 2013 – Food Tank, an American-based food policy organization
founded by food and agriculture experts Ellen Gustafson and Danielle
Nierenberg, is launching today with an aim to fix the food system.
Jan. 10, 2013 – Food Tank, an American-based food policy organization
founded by food and agriculture experts Ellen Gustafson and Danielle
Nierenberg, is launching today with an aim to fix the food system.
"There’s no doubt that the food system is broken. More than one billion
people are obese, nearly one billion people go to bed hungry every
night, and at least two billion people suffer from micronutrient
deficiencies. We need solutions – from schools and hospitals to fields
and forests and from boardrooms to parliaments," the organization said
in a press release. "Food Tank: The Food Think Tank will aim to propel
change by fostering the growing community of voices on food issues."
The Food Tank
website will be an interactive global resource for food and
agriculture related issues and a home base
for connecting those involved in the food system, from producers and
consumers to policy-makers and activists, according to the release. New
research and insights will be posted daily on the website, and Nirenberg
told Canadian Pizza in an e-mail that although the
organization is based in the United States, there are plans to highlight
Canadian initiatives in the research. In addition, Food Tank is planning a 2013 Change the Food System summit, conducting
on-the-ground research both domestically and internationally, preparing
research reports and books, highlighting road maps for sustainable
agricultural systems, and building an innovations database.
The release highlights some of the challenges the food system has faced
over the years: "Roughly a half-century after the Green Revolution – the
first systematic, large-scale attempt to reduce poverty and hunger
throughout the world – a large share of the human family is still
chronically without food, reliable income, and access to education. And
over the last 30 years, the western food system has been built to
promote over-consumption of a few consolidated commodities and has
failed to be the harbinger of health as it spreads around the world. The
epidemic of obesity, in industrialized and developing countries alike,
is increasing the risks of diabetes, cardio-vascular disease, and other
maladies. In addition, we waste vast amounts of food – more than one
third of all food worldwide is wasted, or 1.3 billion tons annually. In
the developing world, roughly 40 per cent of all food goes to waste as a
result of pests, disease, and improper storage. If we start now, there
is an opportunity to develop a better vision for the global food system.
Fixing the system requires changing the conversation and finding ways
that make food production – and consumption – more economically,
environmentally, and socially just and sustainable."
For more information, contact Danielle Nierenberg, danielle@foodtank.org, 202-590-1037, or visit www.foodtank.org .
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