International Experts to Discuss Global Food Issues at the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition's 4th International Forum in Milan, November 28-29

BANNOCKBURN, Ill., Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, more than 865 million people suffer from hunger, while more than one and a half billion are overweight or obese. By 2050, a 70 percent increase in food production will be required to meet the needs of the world's population, which is expected to rise to nine billion people (from seven billion today) while natural resources are in continuous decline. On November 28 and 29, the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition will convene international experts for a multi-disciplinary discussion about global food issues and possible solutions at its 4^th International Forum.

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The two-day event will be hosted at the Bocconi University in Milan and will feature discussions among notable experts including: Raj Patel, Visiting Scholar, University of California at Berkeley and author of The Value of Nothing; Barbara Buchner, Director of the Climate Policy Initiative (Europe); and Dan Glickman, former US Secretary of Agriculture and Senior Fellow of the Bipartisan Policy Center.

Additionally, young students and researchers from all over the world who took part in the BCFN YES! (Young Earth Solutions) competition will participate in the Forum. Young Earth Solutions is the Barilla Center project created in order to give voice to the best ideas on the topic of sustainable nutrition. The winning idea will be chosen during the final day of the Forum, and its creator will be given the opportunity to take part in a BCFN research project in 2013.

Confirmed speakers include:

Guido Barilla, President of the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition and Chairman of the Barilla Group; 
Lester Brown, Founder, WorldWatch Institute, Founder and President, Earth Policy Institute;
Corrado Clini, Minister for Environment, Territory and Sea;
Claude Fischler, sociologist and Director of Research at the French national research agency – CNRS;  
Dan Glickman, Former US Secretary of Agriculture and Senior Fellow of the Bipartisan Policy Center; 
Hans Herren, President of the Millennium Institute;
Kanayo F. Nwanze, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD);
Camillo Ricordi, Professor of Surgery and Medicine at the University of Miami;
Riccardo Valentini, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ‐ IPCC and Nobel Prize for Peace in 2007
Umberto Veronesi, Scientific Director of the European Institute of Oncology in Milan.

Sessions will include plenary sessions and in-depth workshops on topics including:

Food surplus or food security? Among the Paradoxes in play, the disproportionate gap between those who do not have sufficient food to survive and those who are overfed is one of the greatest causes for alarm. Alongside the ethical emergency which imposes research for solutions with the power to defeat hunger, there is alarm related to the social and economic impact of the growing number of overweight and obese people, which is now generating unsustainable costs: 227 billion dollars a year in the US (between 5 and 10% of total healthcare expenditure) and 236 billion euros in Europe (8% of total healthcare expenditure). How is it going to be possible to reconcile social, economic and environmental sustainability needs in the near future?

Feeding people or cars? The food emergency is also affected by the growing use of biofuels. Although, on the one hand, they are becoming increasingly more widespread due to their low polluting emissions, their production takes its toll on another front: an ever increasing portion of arable land is, in fact, being dedicated to the production of corn for this precise purpose; improper use of the Earth's resources that puts food into competition with fuel.

Malnutrition or food waste? Every year, on our planet, 1.3 billion tons of perfectly edible food is wasted, through losses along the production chain, production waste and domestic waste. Industrialized countries alone throw away 222 million tons of food a year, enough to feed Sub Saharan Africa. While at the same time, over 860 million people lack sufficient food resources.

As in past years, the Forum will be open to the public for an open exchange of ideas. Individuals can also join the discussion online at: http://www.barillacfn.com/en/forum/forum-2012/

For more information about the BCFN 4^th International Forum and other BCFN activities, please visit: www.barillacfn.com/en 

Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition

The Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition is a think tank with a multidisciplinary approach to the world of food and nutrition, connecting these to other related issues: economics, medicine, nutrition, sociology and the environment.  The body which oversees the work of the Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition is the Advisory Board, which comprises: Barbara Buchner, Director of the Climate Policy Initiative Europe; Claude Fischler, sociologist; Ellen Gustafson, sustainable nutrition expert; John Reilly, economist; Gabriele Riccardi, endocrinologist; Camillo Ricordi, scientist, University of Miami; and Umberto Veronesi, oncologist. Mario Monti was a member of the Advisory Board until November 2011.

For additional information:
Barilla – Luca Di Leo/Marina Morsellino
Tel. 0039 0521 2621
[email protected]

SOURCE Barilla Center for Food & Nutrition