For this year’s International Youth Day, under the theme of “Transforming Food Systems: Youth Innovation for Human and Planetary Health”, FAO, jointly with UN DESA and the Major Group for Children and Youth, has organized a webinar with the objective of creating a unique dialogue by bringing together actively engaged youth as well as other stakeholders from different walks of life, to mutually learn from one another within 4 different roundtables:

• Youth Innovation for Food Consumption Solutions - Moderator: Lana Weidgenant – Youth Vice Chair of Shifting to Sustainable Consumption for the UN Food Systems Summit
  • Abdulaziz AlMulla – Founder & CEO, Madar Farms
  • Varun Deshpande – Managing Director, The Good Food Institute India
  • Shahini Vallipuram – Financial Controller, Winnow
  • Kerry Brodie – Founder and Executive Director, Emma’s Torch

Video presentation: Alpha Sennon – Founder, WHYFARM, Trinidad and Tobago

• Nutrition Education, Health, and Inequalities in Access to Nutritious Food - Moderator: Lianna Levine Reisner – President & Network Director, Plant Powered Metro New York
  • Dr. Thomas Campbell – Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, University of Rochester
  • Ayanna Besson – Public Health Doctoral Student in Epidemiology, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University, School of Public Health - Brooklyn, NY
  • Dr. Timo Bartholl – Professor of the Department of Geography, Fluminense Federal University (UFF)/Member of Roca! Community Collective

Video presentation: Dr. Kate Tilleczek – Professor and Canada Research Chair and Director, Young Lives Research Laboratory (YLRL), York University Canada

• Food Systems and Planetary Health - Moderator: Vanessa García Polanco – Federal Policy Director, National Young Farmers Coalition
  • Karen Meinders – Global Sustainability Communications Leader, Corteva Agriscience
  • Joanna Wagner – Community Building Coordinator, Planetary Health Alliance
  • Dr. James Stinson – Postdoctoral Fellow, Planetary Health and Education/ Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research/ Young Lives Research Lab, Faculty of Education, York University, Canada
  • Dr. Courtney Howard – Past-President of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE)

Video Presentation: Olawale, Rotimi Opeyemi – Founder/CEO JR Farms Africa

• Indigenous Youth and Food Systems Transformation - Moderator: Malachi Johnson – Gooreng Gooreng Traditional Custodian, Tumra Project Manager, Darumbal Enterprises
  • Ida Stromso – Focal point for Indigenous Youth and Food Security, FAO Indigenous Peoples Unit
  • Nutdanai Trakansuphakon – Co-founder and Owner of Little Farm in Big Forest, Thailand
  • Mai Thin Yu Mon – Indigenous UN Food Systems Champion, Director of the Indigenous Peoples Development Program of the Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO) and Focal Point for the Global Indigenous Youth Caucus in Asia

Video Presentation: Haowa Bello – CEO & Founder of Fula Farms and Madame Coquette

The webinar can be accessed at the following link: Youth Day 2021 event