EAT Stockholm Food Forum 2014: The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation Announces the Establishment of an International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems - IPES-Food

Stockholm (ots/PRNewswire) -

Feeding the world while safeguarding its resources

This represents a vital challenge to which humanity must rise.
Wide-ranging scientific findings show with growing certainty that the
current food system poses serious problems of sustainability at
several levels: environmental, economic, socio-cultural and
nutritional public health.

Today there are 7 billion mouths to feed and it is estimated that
there will be more than 9 billion by 2050. The food challenge
requires that today modes of production, supply chain and consumption
are rethought and reworked.

This cannot be allowed to emerge slowly. It must be actively
pushed and promoted. The evidence for the need to significantly
change our food systems and diets is increasingly strong. The Daniel
and Nina Carasso Foundation aims to address this challenge through
the establishment of an International Panel of Experts on Sustainable
Food Systems (IPES-Food).

As declared by Prof. Olivier De Schutter, who is finalizing his
mandate as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to
Food, "Producing more food will not do. Food systems must be reshaped
with a view to ensuring social equity and the reduction of rural
poverty, protecting our resource base and delivering better health
outcomes. Multidisciplinary research is urgently needed to promote
adequate solutions at policy and global levels. And it must include
an analysis of consumer behaviour, to encourage sustainable
consumption as an integral part of food systems reform." Prof. De
Schutter will co-chair IPES-Food, together with Dr Olivia Yambi.

The aims of IPES-Food initiative

IPES-Food initiative addresses one of the three areas of action
targeted by the International Scientific Committee of the Foundation:
evidence-based advocacy on sustainable food systems and diets. This
group of high-level scientists aims to provide the policy makers, the
private sector and the public at large with the evidence to guide a
transition towards sustainable food systems and diets.

To achieve its objectives, IPES-Food seeks to:

- Analyse and synthetize evidence in the field of sustainable food
systems and diets

- Identify gaps of knowledge and priority fields of research,
encourage and guide research on sustainable food systems and diets

- Develop tools for decision makers in order to determine national
guidelines on sustainable diets

- Influence stakeholders (policy makers, scientific communities,
food chain actors, civil society, media, public at large)

- Support concrete food policy transitions.

A long-term outlook (at least 5 years) is particularly important
for such a complex, comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach that
has not yet been widely recognised or adopted.

IPES-Food will be composed of between 25 and 30 members, appointed
for their expertise and commitment to the issue, who contribute in
their personal capacity, independently from their organization.
IPES-Food is currently composed of 11 members and is co-chaired by Dr
Olivia Yambi, nutritionist and former UNICEF representative to Kenya,
and Prof. Olivier De Schutter, U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right
to Food, until 30th May.

The members will cover a broad range of disciplines with
complementary expertise spanning the entire breath and complexity of
food systems.

At least, 75% of IPES-Food members will be high-level and
internationally recognized scientists from relevant
disciplines,including: ecology, environment, nutrition, food economy,
food sociology, behavioural psychology, food policy, food legal
background, food production, food processing and food consumption.

Other members will be actors on the ground (representatives of
consumer associations, of the civil society...), experts in global
prospective studies and creative thinkers with the ability to devise
innovative ways to convey messages.

IPES-Food-EAT Initiative collaboration and overall partnership
policy

The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation is very pleased to join
forces with EAT Initiative (http://www.eatforum.org). The instigators
of both IPES-Food and EAT Initiative realise that bringing about the
necessary policy reforms, innovations and behaviour changes to
achieve sustainable food systems is a monumental task that cannot be
achieved by any organization or initiative alone. Sharing the same
concerns and overall aims, they have decided to join forces and plan
their initiatives in a closely coordinated way, building on their
respective strengths, to create synergies and complement each other.
IPES-Food will contribute its analysis and synthesis of scientific
evidence and messages as a contribution to the science agenda of EAT
Initiative and will use the annual EAT Stockholm Food Forum as a
major platform for outreach and communication.

Driven by its collaborative spirit, the Daniel and Nina Carasso
Foundation plans to bring into the initiative additional funding and
operating partners (foundations, scientific organizations,
intergovernmental bodies and leading advocacy organizations such as
NGOs) to further strengthen the initiative and bolster its capacity
to achieve its ambitious goal.

"Initially, IPES-Food has a specific task and remit, but the
Foundation is aware that its work could evolve in different
directions regarding its linkages with civil society, governments and
private sector. The fact remains, however, that the world currently
lacks a global scientific advisory body that looks at sustainable
food systems in all their complexity. This is what EAT Initiative and
IPES-Food collaboration will bring. One possible and desirable
direction would be to see a broadly supported Intergovernmental
Initiative emerge that will address this crucial issue," specified
Mrs Marie-Stephane Maradeix, Executive Secretary of the Daniel and
Nina Carasso Foundation.

The Premio Daniel Carasso: an international award to
support/encourage research in the field of sustainable food

The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation's vocation is to encourage
research and promote innovation in sustainable food systems and
diets. That desire for progress prompted the idea of the Premio
Daniel Carasso in 2012.

The Premio is an international prize awarded every two years to a
research scientist or a research team for outstanding work in the
field of "sustainable food systems and diets for long term health".
More than just an award, the Premio is designed to promote
innovative, cross-disciplinary research into food systems. The 2nd
edition of the Premio Daniel Carasso was launched on April the 1st,
2014. Applications may be submitted till June 30th, 2014.

The Daniel and Nina Carrasso Foundation awards the winning entrant
a prize of EUR100,000 and he/she will be the Foundation's ambassador
on the issue of sustainable food systems and diets on a period of two
years.

For more information,visit the official web site:
http://www.fondationcarasso.org

About the Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation

The Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation was established in 2010 in
memory of Daniel Carasso, founder of Danone in France and Dannon in
the USA, and his wife. The Foundation is very much a family
organization. On its Executive Committee sit its president, Marina
Nahmias, daughter of Daniel and Nina Carasso, her family and
individuals with different expertise.

Under the aegis of the Fondation de France, the Daniel and Nina
Carasso Foundation supports sustainable food systems and art
projects.

More information available on: http://www.fondationcarasso.org.

ots Originaltext: Fondation Daniel et Nina Carasso
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Media contact: Dominique Kerforn - Agence Burson Marstelleri&e,
Tel.: +33 (0)1 56 03 12 75 - Email: dominique.kerforn@bm.com