City Hive’s Post

Did you know... food systems contribute up to 37% of global GHG emissions, but there's a darker story: forced labor and human rights abuses are hidden deep within our global food supply chains. 🌐 * 20 Billion burgers are consumed in the US annually * DHS investigating children working in slaughterhouses * Child labor in Colorado Lettuce fields, among other countries * Tomatoes from China are from detained and abused Muslim workers * Onion Farms traffic workers to dig bare handed for 20cents a bucket * 80,000+ children in Pakistan are used in dairy production Supply chains are the hidden arteries of our food systems. When inefficiencies and unethical practices exist, they harm people and accelerate environmental degradation. AI-powered solutions have the ability to illuminate food supply chains—creating transparency, pinpointing areas of risk, flagging connections to known instances of forced labor, and identifying opportunities to buy down risk over time. 💡Exiger’s AI-powered solutions for supply chain transparency help companies identify risks, make ethical decisions, and reduce carbon footprints from farm to fork. 🔍 "Remember: The test of a good company is not whether or not it has forced labor hiding in its supply chain; it’s whether the company devotes the time and resources to review its supply chain and what its leadership does when it finds evidence of forced labor. " 🔗 An interesting article to dive deeper with Fast Company: https://lnkd.in/ejCmqXFN #EndForcedLabor #SustainableSupplyChains #ModernSlavery #SupplyChainInnovation #AIForGood #Supplychainai #ClimateAction #EthicalSourcing

This week, the global food and agriculture community came together for the 52nd Committee on World Food Security, the annual intergovernmental meeting on food and nutrition security during which Ministers of Agriculture from the 150+ member countries assemble at the FAO HQ to adopt policy positions that have been negotiated throughout the year. Five packed days of meetings brought together world leaders to touch base on the most pressing annual agenda items, including the 2024 State of Food Security and Nutrition report.   Decent work for food systems workers was center stage during this week’s events. Our coalition’s very own Christine Campeau chaired the plenary discussion on “Promoting decent work in agriculture and food systems”. Juan Carlos Mendoza, Director of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)’s ECG Division, spotlighted the Coalition’s efforts during Wednesday’s session and invited the Plenary to engage in the Coalition to express their support for agri-food workers’ rights:   “Since 2021, IFAD is co-leading the Decent Work Coalition together with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and CARE. The objective of the Coalition is mobilising stakeholders at a global, national, and local level to ensure better and more decent jobs/wages for food systems workers. In particular, groups of workers exposed to socioeconomic vulnerability.   The coalition aims to achieve food systems transformation through promoting labour and human rights, increasing opportunities for decent and productive employment within the agri-food sector; improving incomes and wages and; strengthening organisation and social dialogue in the sector.    We take this opportunity to invite you to join us in advancing the agenda on the role and rights of agri-food system workers through the coalition.”   We are grateful to #CFS52 for giving us a platform to share our work with the Plenary and to our members who continue to make incredible strides in improving the lives and livelihoods of agri-food workers globally. #CFS #CFS52 #RighttoFood #LabourRights #agriculture #decentwork #foodsystems #foodsecurity International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) International Labour Organization CARE FAO YPARD SIANI - Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative

#Sustainable_Food_Systems | Agri-Food 🥬Food systems sustainability encompasses practices that ensure the long-term well-being of the entire food supply chain. 🥬It involves cultivating, processing, distributing, and consuming food in ways that are environmentally responsible, economically viable, and socially equitable. 🥬This approach considers the impact on ecosystems, economic stability, and social welfare, aiming for a resilient and enduring food system that meets current needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own. 🌱🍽️ #FoodSustainability #SustainableFoodSystem

The Fair Food Program (FFP), a farmworker-led, market-based solution to agricultural workplace injustices—recently cited as an emerging “gold standard” in social responsibility in a 10-year, longitudinal study of the leading certification programs—provides a solution. #labor #agricultureandfarming #foodsystems #climatechange #policy

Food system change can be the engine of reform in the UK and improve the lives of the most vulnerable, whilst establishing a path to a more sustainable future. This is a great summary, at an important time - a short read by Henry Dimbleby with no paywall.#foodsystem #systemchange #sustainabilty #election

🌍 **Exploring the Impact of Carbon Labels on Consumer Choices** 🌍 Carbon labels are back in fashion. In this 2013 paper by Vincenzina Caputo, Achilleas Vassilopoulos, and Rodolfo M. Nayga Jr., we delve into the comparative effects of carbon labels and food miles—one of the main drivers of carbon emissions—on consumer welfare. 🔍 **Study Overview:** - **Location:** Naples, Italy - **Participants:** 200 consumers - **Focus:** Preferences for fresh tomatoes under different labelling scenarios. **Key Findings:** - Both carbon labels and food miles labels can enhance consumer welfare, with the label detailing time and distance travelled showing a slightly greater positive impact. This study significantly contributes to our understanding of how such labels influence consumer behaviour and welfare in the context of sustainable food consumption. For more in-depth insights, check out our full paper: Caputo, V., Vassilopoulos, A., Nayga, R. M., & Canavari, M. (2013). Welfare Effects of Food Miles Labels. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 47(2), 311–327.  https://lnkd.in/d-2vm2ms #Sustainability #ConsumerWelfare #FoodLabeling #EnvironmentalImpact #AgriculturalEconomics

For today's Footprint feature I've reflected on Labour's first 100 days in office through a food policy lens. It feels to me like action to-date is in many ways a microcosm of the broader critique of Keir Starmer’s leadership with some concrete policy announcements (particularly on public health) set within the context of a government that is struggling to spell out a wider vision for the food system it wants to help create. What's missing, and has been for years now, is a cross-cutting strategy that grapples with the interrelated challenges of farmer livelihoods, food security and resilience, climate change, diet-related ill health, food access and affordability, and many other issues besides. This is politically difficult, intellectually challenging stuff (which is why it tends not to get done) but if Labour needs some inspiration it could do worse than hark back to the Food 2030 document produced in the final year of the last Labour government in 2010 for which the six overarching priorities have, I would argue, largely stood the test of time: 🥕 enabling and encouraging people to eat a healthy, sustainable diet; 💷 ensuring a resilient, profitable and competitive food system; 👨🌾 increasing food production sustainably; 🏭 reducing the food system’s greenhouse gas emissions; 🗑 reducing, reusing and reprocessing waste; 📑 increasing the impact of skills, knowledge, research and technology. https://lnkd.in/eTTxmGSw

“When herds number 500 or more (with sometimes thousands of cows), the consequences of this industrial scale are inevitable: increased pollution, welfare issues and a whole range of negative social impacts in rural communities, all with stories the supermarkets wouldn’t want you to know.” Customers are increasingly suspicious that many of the foods they eat, and milk in particular, are coming from ever larger and more industrialised farms. Unfortunately, these suspicions are well founded – more than half of the milk that is sold in UK supermarkets, now comes from dairy cows that are, to use the euphemistic jargon of the industry, ‘fully housed’, meaning they never get out on to grass. This is exactly the opposite trend to what we need. If you choose to eat or drink dairy, please make sure that it comes from cows that were raised on family farms, on pasture and humanely. Remember, what you eat determines the fate of your health, the economic well being of the farmers you choose to support with your purchases, the environment and a tremendous number of innocent, sentient beings. https://lnkd.in/evbj9qjD

Under Keir Starmer's leadership, the Labour government is set to transform the UK's food system. From tackling food insecurity to promoting sustainable farming, these policies aim to ensure a resilient, fair, and environmentally friendly food supply chain. Discover how Labour plans to support local production, enhance food safety, and drive agricultural innovation... #GE #Labour #FoodandBev #Sustainability

Decent work plays a critical role in creating sustainable and inclusive food systems that address global hunger and food insecurity. Chair of the #CFS, H.E. Ambassador Nosipho Jezile highlighted this in her opening statements at the #CFS52 plenary session on “Promoting decent work in agriculture and food systems”: “Agricultural and food workers – both waged and self-employed – experience the highest incidence of poverty and are among groups of workers particularly exposed to socio-economic vulnerability. Addressing employment and labour challenges facing the agri-food sector is essential to the transition to sustainable, resilient and inclusive food systems.” Transitioning to resilient food systems means investing in fair and safe working conditions for agricultural workers, building robust protections for those at the heart of our food supply. Tackling these employment challenges will require multi-stakeholder collaboration, strong labor standards, and innovative policy interventions. Let’s work together to ensure that the journey to sustainable food systems lifts up every worker who makes it possible. Join our coalition to promote decent work in food systems by visiting our website or register to receive our monthly newsletter by contacting decentworkcoalition@ifad.org. #CFS #CFS52 #FoodSecurity #DecentWork #Agriculture #SustainableDevelopment International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) International Labour Organization CARE Christine Campeau Aliza Lauter David Manyonga Luca Passacantilli FAO UN Food Systems Coordination Hub UN-Nutrition World Food Programme