Fixing the Business of Food: Barilla Foundation Challenges CEOs and Industry Leaders to Accelerate Progress on Food Sustainability

NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Nations has called for a transformation in food production and management of land to drive progress towards the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). At a workshop and in a report published on Tuesday, the Barilla Foundation, led by Chairman Guido Barilla, outlined the current state of the food industry and the steps leaders must take to progress and achieve sustainable food, land, water, and oceans.

"Food industry leaders have already taken steps to align with the SDGs and have endorsed sustainable development as a core business concept. But to achieve the SDGs by 2030, we need business actions. The Barilla Foundation and our partners recognize the need for concrete practices, metrics, monitoring, and public education to support the transformation to sustainability. Only by working together can we achieve the SDGs," said Guido Barilla.

The Barilla Foundation – in collaboration with the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), and the Santa Chiara Lab of the University of Siena – conducted an immersive look at how the food industry currently operates, and what can be done to adapt to the environmental and urban challenges the planet faces. The food industry must step up and address these matters, and the report provides a blueprint to do so.

"As leaders of the food industry work on aligning with the timebound targets of the SDGs and the Paris Climate Agreement, a report providing concrete approaches is crucial. To achieve the SDGs, business leaders need to align their company's performance, reporting, and monitoring with the SDGs, and to do so along their entire supply chains. The companies should also make efforts to expand the public's awareness of sustainable and healthy lifestyles," explained Jeffrey Sachs, Director of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. 

The report published, "Fixing the Business of Food - The Food Industry and the SDG Challenge," showcases best practices and recommendations in four areas:

1. Products that contribute to healthy and sustainable dietary patterns;
2. Sustainable production practices;
3. Sustainable global supply chains;
4. Good corporate citizenship

"To support the transformation to sustainable food systems, a change in business practices and more harmonized and comparable monitoring and reporting standards are needed. Such comparability will support the efforts by companies to set ambitious targets in terms of the four dimensions of our framework," said Angelo Riccaboni, Professor at the University of Siena and Chair of the Prima Foundation.

"Rethinking food production and consumption patterns starting from traditional knowledge translates into high social and cultural food values, which can boost the productivity of smallholder farmers, help reduce food loss and food waste and improve access of local productions to wider markets. In Italy, we have been working for years with the private sector which has taken important steps in the area of food reformulation, packaging waste reduction and sourcing quality ingredients," said Emanuela C. Del Re, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy.

The report launch marks the first phase of a two-year project to raise awareness of the challenges and opportunities for the food sector and identify effective pathways towards the achievement of the SDGs. The second phase will engage industry leaders to support the systematizing and upgrading the practice, reporting, monitoring, and public education efforts of the companies on SDGs. Additional recommendations are expected to be made available to the public and industry during the UN General Assembly in 2020.

About the Barilla Foundation

The Barilla Foundation is a multi-disciplinary research center which studies the causes and effects on food created by economic, science, society and environmental factors. It produces science-based content that can be used to inform people and help them make responsible choices about food, nutrition, health and sustainability. For further information: www.barillacfn.com

The report is available at: www.fixing-food.com

Contact: Michelle "Mischa" Sindyukov at [email protected]

SOURCE Barilla Foundation

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http://www.barillacfn.com