The University of Pennsylvania and FAO, May 30, 2023 
Ethiopia Room (C-285/289), 10.30-12.30, FAO-HQ, Rome, Italy

Rapid and inter-connected structural transformations, including population growth, urbanization, changing consumption patterns, and climate change, are shaping the way in which food is produced, distributed and consumed, with growing pressure on natural resources and on the state of food security and nutrition, especially in most vulnerable countries. 

Food systems encompass the entire range of actors and their interconnected activities involved in the production, aggregation, processing, distribution, consumption and disposal of food products. Ensuring food security, the provision of important nutrients for health and sustenance, and contributing to biodiversity and the generation of jobs along food value chains in rural and urban settings the food system plays an essential role in the economy and society. Yet, constrained by population growth, urbanization, increasing consumption and climate change, food systems around the world are straining to deliver the desired benefits in a sustainable way. 

In this session, food systems experts from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the University of Pennsylvania will share insights on the critical challenges facing the global food system and work supporting its sustainable transformation and progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals. An overview of concepts, definitions and trends on Food Systems will be shared, followed by a sharing of lessons on FAO’s work on the food-water-energy nexus. The Session will conclude with findings from UPENN’s research on the global food waste challenge and behavior change from the U.S. perspective and an open discussion with all participants. 

This session will target graduate students from the University of Pennsylvania’s Organizational Dynamics program, under Professor Steven Finn’s course entitled “Global Collaboration for Sustainability: The Food-Water-Energy Nexus in Italy” (DYNM 7660).