Global Forum on Food Security and Nutrition (FSN Forum)

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Max Blanck

Member since
Organization: European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
Country: Italy
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External Engagement Officer at ESFA.

Policy Dialogue Advisor

As Policy Dialogue Advisor, he manages the FSN Forum’s operations and liaises with partners for building and expanding the Forum’s collaboration mechanisms. Furthermore, Max also sets up targeted online consultations for partners such as the Committee on World Food Security (CFS) and its High Level Panel of Experts.

He holds a Master’s degree in Food Security from Roma Tre University, Italy, and a Master’s degree in Human Rights Law from the University of Malta.

Before joining the FSN Forum, Max worked as a Project Manager in a Swiss consultancy firm and for German foreign policy institutes.

Contact: [email protected]

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    • Max Blanck

      European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
      Italy

      Dear All,

      With this interesting discussion now closed, I would like to express my deepest appreciation for the time you dedicated to sharing your SDG-related stories.

      In this online discussion we have deliberately invited you to comment on a very openly formulated topic as we did not want to limit you in telling the stories you deemed important.

      In my view, the most important result of this exchange is that it underlined once again the complexity of the fight against hunger and malnutrition and the multitude of avenues that we can follow.

      Something that many of the examples you shared have in common is that they provided innovative approaches or applied tested solutions in an innovative way. This is encouraging as it showcases the high level of commitment towards realizing SDG2 and the vitality of the development sector, especially at the grassroots level.

      The diversity of the examples you shared also underlines the importance of knowledge sharing initiates to help us stay updated and able to learn from each-other.

      For this reason we also appreciate the more critical comments you shared as they highlight pitfalls that can jeopardize our success.

      Over the next weeks we will analyse your comments in greater detail and might get back to you should we require further information.

      Once again, thank you very much!

      Max

    • Max Blanck

      European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
      Italy

      Dear all,

      Thank you so much for all your insightful comments.

      I am particularly impressed by the multitude of issues your contributions touched upon. Aquaculture, nutrition education, food safety, nutrition, monitoring & evaluation, horticulture, access to water, extension services, youth and ethnobotany have all been mentioned.

      This reflects very clearly the multidimensional nature of our struggle towards realizing SDG 2 "Zero Hunger". It also shows that one of the trickiest aspects lies in the harmonization of the work and in effective inter-sectorial cooperation.

      To allow newcomers to this discussion to get up to speed, I invite you to have a look at the latest two digest that provide an overview of the exchange so far:

      Digest 1

      Digest 2

      Thank you very much once again and keep your stories (experiences, reflections, papers, photos, videos, etc.) coming!

      Max

    • Max Blanck

      European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
      Italy

      Dear Colleagues,

      First of all, let me thank you for the very interesting stories you shared over the past few days.

      They paint a very interesting picture on how the realization of SDG2 is being tackled in your countries and of the challenges that remain. Your first-hand experience touches on many different issues with land degradation, intersectoral cooperation, funding, food loos & waste, nutrition, education and animal husbandry all being mentioned as important elements. This multitude of aspects reflect the very essence of the SDG and their comprehensive and cross-cutting nature. They also showcase the complexity of our fight against hunger and the efforts that are necessary to move towards a Zero Hunger world.

      I would like to encourage you to keep sharing your stories, allowing fellow practitioners to learn from your experience of what worked – or didn’t – and how you overcame the challenges.

      Looking forward to your stories!

      Max

    • Max Blanck

      European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
      Italy

      Dear all,

      Thank you very much for the comments shared so far. While all contributions are most welcome, I would like to remind you to use, where possible, the template provided by CFS.

      This would greatly help our colleagues in analysing and systematizing your case studies.

      You can download the template here.

      We look forward to keep receiving your case studies!

      Max

      FSN Forum Team

    • Max Blanck

      European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
      Italy

      Dear all,

      We are happy to inform you that the publication “Towards a Common Understanding of Sustainable Food Systems”, has been officially released as part of the 3rd Global Conference of the One Planet Network Sustainable Food Systems Program. The comments you provided through this online consultation have been instrumental in making this publication as comprehensive and complete as possible.

      You can access the full publication here: https://www.oneplanetnetwork.org/resource/towards-common-understanding-sustainable-food-systems-key-approaches-concepts-and-terms 

      Best regards
      Your FSN Forum Team

    • Max Blanck

      European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
      Italy

      Dear all,

      We would like to share with you a quick update on the process

      With the 2021 Food Systems Summit on the horizon, the finalization of the SFS Toolbox and thus also the Glossary have again gained momentum.

      The inputs gained through the online consultation have been carefully analyzed and inserted into a matrix, which is being used by the authors of the different sections to improve the draft.

      The final draft including the consolidated changes is scheduled to be ready by June, with the finalized Glossary scheduled to be published before the end of this year.

      We will let you know as soon as the SFS Toolbox and the Glossary will be available.

      Best regards

    • Max Blanck

      European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)
      Italy

      Dear all,

      I had the honour and pleasure to take part in the APEC Food Security Workshop and would like to share some thoughts.

      Food Security as we understand it today is defined as “existing when all people, at all times, have physical and economic access to sufficient safe and nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for an active and healthy life”.

      From this definition we can deduce that food security bases itself on four main dimensions: the physics availability of food, the economic and physical access to it, the possibility to utilize the food (dietary practices, food preparation, health, etc) and the stability of the three previous dimensions over time (see FAO's Introduction to the Basic Concepts of Food Security).

      Now, given the complex nature of food security and the vast differences between the APEC economies it is clear that the challenges faced are extremely diverse. APEC reunites mature market economies, countries in transition and developing countries across various climatic zones and with populations ranging from 1.3 billion in China to less than 0.5 million in Brunei.

      It is therefore normal that policies aiming at ensuring food security need to be fundamentally different in each member economy. An urban resident in Sydney will have very different priorities and ways to feed himself and his family than those available to a farmer in a remote rural village in Peru. However, the responsibilities of the governments remain the same. They need to put in place policies that create an environment in which citizens can be food secure according to all four dimensions. In this, APEC economies can learn a lot from each other. Being in very different stages of development and employing different types of government, there is a true treasure trove of experience.

      Could the poorer countries learn from China and the fantastic success it had in lifting people out of food insecurity over the last decades? But would this approach work as well in a society with a different socioeconomic background? Is a liberal trade system the best way to follow? But how can poorer countries then protect their own nascent economies and agricultural sectors? Should we focus more on private or public investment?

      While the answers to question such as these are far from easy to find, looking at what other countries did and the results they had can provide some valuable guidance. Meetings like the one organized by CAAS and this discussion are valuable exactly because they allow for such an exchange.

      Let’s take advantage of the remaining days to share how our own countries have addressed food insecurity and explore what we, as young professionals and students can do to draw the right lessons from the past.

      Let’s keep the ideas flowing

      Max